Federal Prosecutors Expand Probe Into Whether Chicago Police Tortured Murder Suspects
A federal investigation into whether Chicago police officers tortured murder suspects has expanded its focus to include six more detectives who have been linked to former Cmdr. John Burge and the police precincts where he worked on the South Side during the 1980’s. Burge, who was fired from his position in 1993, was indicted on obstruction of justice and perjury charges last fall.
He pleaded not guilty to federal charges that he lied while under oath when he denied that he and other police officers had engaged in police torture so that murder suspects would confess. Burge's criminal trial is scheduled for May 2009.
Among the evidence prosecutors are examining are medical records that could corroborate claims of Chicago police brutality. In one alleged incident of police torture, Andrew Wilson says he was shocked, beaten, and forced to put his stomach and chest on a hot radiator while Burge and other officers coerced him into confessing to the murder of two cops. There are photographs documenting Wilson’s burn marks and facial injuries.
Another suspect, Gregory Banks, says detectives put a plastic bag over his head so he would confess to murder. Seven years into Banks's prison sentence, the Illinois Appellate Court found that he made his confession while under duress of police brutality. He was awarded a new trial. Banks also filed a federal lawsuit for civil rights violations and won $92,000.
This month, David Fauntleroy was cleared of all wrongdoing after serving 25 years of a life sentence in prison. Fauntleroy has always said that Chicago police detectives who worked under Burge had tortured him so that he would confess to robbery and murder. James Andrews, a co-defendant who was convicted of the same crimes and who had implicated Fauntleroy, was released from prison last year. Andrews also has said that Chicago police tortured him.
Police torture or any other form of police brutality is a crime and a violation of one's civil rights.
U.S. investigation of Chicago police torture widens to include colleagues of Jon Burge, Chicago Tribune, February 4, 2009
Conviction out, man to walk free, Chicago Tribune, January 10, 2009
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Chicago Police Department
Chicago Police Brutality Attorney Steve Malman is committed to preventing such crimes from occurring and making sure that victims and their families receive the compensation they are owed for these civil rights violations.
