New hearings sought in Chicago police torture case
Legal News Center
Fifteen incarcerated men who claim they were sent to prison by confessions that were beaten, burned and tortured out of them by convicted Chicago police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers are getting some high-profile help — including from a former Illinois governor.
In a friend-of-the-court brief to be filed Wednesday with the Illinois Supreme Court, ex-Gov. Jim Thompson and more than 60 current and former prosecutors, judges and lawmakers are asking for new evidentiary hearings for inmates who say their convictions were based on coerced confessions.
The brief marks the first effort on behalf of alleged Burge victims as a group and not separate individual cases, attorneys said.
Burge's name has become synonymous with police abuse in the nation's third-largest city, and more than 100 men — most of them African-American and Latino— have alleged Burge and his men tortured them from the 1970s to the 1990s.
Burge was convicted last year of lying about whether he ever witnessed or participated in the torture of suspects. He's serving a 4 1/2-year sentence at Butner Federal Correctional Complex in North Carolina.
Burge never has faced criminal charges for abuse. He was fired from the police department in 1993 over the 1982 beating and burning of Andrew Wilson, a suspect later convicted of killing two police officers.
Related listings
-
Legally blind Vt. law student wins 1st big case
Legal News Center 08/08/2011A legally blind law school student has won her first big court victory.Deanna Jones of Middlesex, Vt., sued the National Conference of Bar Examiners in July, accusing it of violating the Americans With Disabilities Act. The examiners would not let he...
-
Arizona Court: $75M Cash-Only Bond 'Excessive'
Legal News Center 08/04/2011A $75 million cash-only bond for a father accused of sexually abusing his children was unconstitutionally excessive and denied him the opportunity to be freed from jail while he awaits trial, the state appellate court ruled. The court already had sen...
-
Jury deliberates in post-Katrina shootings trial
Legal News Center 08/03/2011Jurors have begun deliberating the fate of five current or former police officers charged in deadly shootings on a New Orleans bridge after Hurricane Katrina.Jurors began their deliberations Wednesday after U.S. District Judge Kurt Engelhardt gave th...
Victorville CA DUI defense Attorneys
The outcome of a DUI defense will have a long-term effect on anyone’s life, making the decision to receive legal representation an easy one. The fact is, most people accused of a DUI are first offenders with no criminal background. Whether this is your first run in with the law or you have had previous convictions, you are in need of a DUI defense attorney.
The charges you are facing for a DUI range from fines, a 12-month suspension on your license and worst-case scenario, prison time. Your attorney will be able to analyze your situation to decide the best way to go about your case.
Our attorneys know the tricky ways to challenge all of the DUI tests and know how to claim improper collection of evidence. We will be able to negotiate on your behalf and free you from charges and help you keep your drivers license. The DUI process can last up to several months, we can make this process easier on you. .