Police Crimes in Court
POLICE TORTURE/WRONGFUL CONVICTION HEARINGS 2015- 2017
QUICK UPDATE as of 4/18/2017
Cook County Court House, 26th and California
Andre Brown
Friday April 21st, 9:30am RM 208
Sean Tyler
Friday April 28th 9:30am RM 306
Johnnie Plumber
Wednesday May 10, 9:30am RM 207
George Anderson & Anthony Jakes
Thursday May 18th, 10a, RM 301
Javon Delony
Thursday May 18th, 9:30am RM 207
Gerald Reed
Thursday May 18th, 9:30am RM 302
Ivan Smith
Thursday May 18th 9:30am RM 305
Carl Williams
Wednesday May 24th 10:00 am RM TBD
Kilroy Watkins
Thursday May 25th, 9:30am RM 700,
Miguel Morales
Monday June 5th 9:30am RM 203
Keith Walker
Date TBD 9:30am RM 704
William Negron
TBD
Anthony Porter
Date TBD RM 600
Clayborn Smith
Date TBD 9:30am RM 602
FREEDOM AND JUSTICE FOR ALL THE TORTURE SURVIVORS !
Pack the courtrooms. support all survivors of police torture and wrongful imprisonment!
The torture continues…shout till they’re out, ALL of them.
We demand:
* The immediate release of all imprisoned torture survivors.
* All employed CPD torture cops be fired, prosecuted and stripped of their pensions plus all ex-CPD torture cops also be prosecuted and their pensions stripped. As long as the victims of torture are still incarcerated the crime of torture is ongoing and not subject to the statute of limitations
* Enact CPAC – an all elected Civilian Police Accountability Council, for community control of Chicago Police to end the systemic racist norm of Chicago police crimes of torture. READ HERE –How things could have been different had an elected, Civilian Police Accountability Council (CPAC) been in place when these men were arrested.
INFO on continuing hearing on CPD torture of Anthony Jakes and George Anderson
Jan 19, 2016 Press coverage Press Release
1970’s Area 2, 1990’s Area 3, 2016 Homan Square. Chicago cops torturing Black and Brown communities is a systematic norm of the past and the present—Jon Burge is the tip of the racist iceberg called CPD
George Anderson and Anthony Jakes were both tortured in 1991 into false confessions by CPD. The evidentiary hearing for these torture survivors started November 3, 2015 and is still continuing (see above for next court date) Anderson and Jakes have been fighting for freedom & justice for 24 yrs, they need us there at these hearings to support their fight.
SEPTEMBER 16, 1991 – ANTHONY JAKES an African American teen just 15 yrs old was arrested & held for 16 hours by Chicago cops Michael Kill & Kenneth Boudreau at Area 3. He was slapped, punched, beaten and kicked. He sustained injuries to his back, stomach, knee, elbow, and ribs. Det. Kill threatened to throw Jakes out the window….just a few particulars of the terror and hell he went through.
Jakes, tortured as a child for 16hrs – no parent, no lawyer no guardian – forced into a false confession -charged as an adult-sentence to 40 yrs, he served 20.
AUGUST 21 1991 – GEORGE ANDERSON was arrested and over days tortured into 2 false confessions. Chicago cops Michael Kill, Kenneth Bourdreau & John Hallaran repeatedly kicked him whilst handcuffed to a wall. Det James O’Brien held an open telephone book as Det. Joseph Stehlik struck George Anderson with a black rubber hose multiple times …just a few of the horrific details of the torture he suffered at the hands of CPD. George Anderson was sentenced to 2 concurrent life terms.
Read Illinois Torture Inquiry & Relief Commission torture case details for: George Anderson and Anthony Jakes
The cops involved with the torture of Anthony Jakes & George Anderson were not new to committing torture but practiced their racist police crimes systematically and with impunity:
Det. MICHAEL KILL – accused of physical abuse and coercion by OVER 20 individuals. He was involved in the cases of Ronald Kitchen and Gerald Reed* whose steel rod in his leg was shattered while he was interrogated by Kill and others at Area 3 in 1990.
Det. KENNETH BOUDREAU has been accused of abuse and coercion by OVER 35 individuals. Boudreau has obtained confessions in cases where the individual was in jail at the time of the offense to which he confessed
Det. JOHN HALLORAN accused of abuse and coercion by OVER 35 individuals.
Det. JAMES O”BRIEN has been accused by OVER 30 individuals of physical abuse and coercion
Wondering who was the prosecuting attorney that suppressed evidence on Chicago police torture cops Kill, Boudreau, O’Brien, Stehlik, who used false confessions from police torture to get wrongful convictions?…yep #ByeAnita
*Chicago police Torture Survivor Gerald Reed is fighting for an evidentiary hearing— he was tortured and sentenced to natural life on a false confession, this was 25 years ago. . His case for an evidentiary hearing is developing—there will be a call for mass solidarity for Gerald Reed in the near future.
We support the demand of torture survivors and their families for immediate evidentiary hearings for all, including Gerald Reed we also demand:
- The immediate release of all imprisoned torture victims.
-
All employed CPD torture cops be fired, prosecuted and stripped of their pensions plus all ex-CPD torture cops also be prosecuted and their pensions stripped. As long as the victims of torture are still incarcerated the crime of torture is ongoing and not subject to the statute of limitations
- Enact CPAC – an all elected Civilian Police Accountability Council, for community control of Chicago Police to end the systemic racist norm of Chicago police crimes of torture
#tortureisacrime #StopPoliceCrimes
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PAST- POLICE MURDER HEARING
UPDATE – Servin Trial postponed until April 9th, 2015
Chicago Police officer Dante Servin, killer of Rekia Boyd,
Location: County Court House, 26th & California, Judge Dennis J. Porter, RM # TBA
When: April 9, 2015, TIME TBA
Rekia Boyd was just 22 yrs old when she was fatally gunned down by off-duty CPD Detective Dante Servin in March 2012. Servin is the first cop in 15 years to get charged with shooting a civilian: he is charged with involuntary manslaughter, reckless discharge of a firearm and reckless conduct.
On November 25, 2013, the State’s Attorney’s office announced it would charge Servin with manslaughter in the March 21, 2012, shooting of 22-year-old Rekia Boyd. “For the first time in 15 years a Chicago police officer has been charged with shooting a civilian and that is truly incredible,” said Frank Chapman, Field Organizer,CAARPR. (Read the full statement)
PAST – POLICE TORTURE COURT HEARINGS & CASE INFO
Chicago Police Torture victim Sean Tyler, serving 50 years.
When: Tuesday, June 16, 2015 10:00 a.m.
Location: Illinois Appellate Court, 160 N. LaSalle
Oral Argument.
SEAN TYLER was just 17 years old when he was arrested and tortured by Chicago Police Detectives Kenneth Boudreau, John Halloran and James O’Brien.
Arrested on April 1,1994 at Area Three, Sean Tyler was held for two days during which he was tortured for refusing to sign a false confession of murder. He was beaten so much that he was taken to hospital. These detectives finally tortured Tyler into signing the false confession. One of his code defenders is Reginald Henderson, his half bother. Sean Tyler had no criminal record. He is now serving 58 years for a crime he did not commit. The only evidence is the false confession. Tyler’s lawyers at the time made no effort to introduce evidence of why detectives involved in his case framed Sean nor did they check his alibi.
The detectives in the case were under all Jon Burge. They are still free to continue torturing Black & Latino men—long after Burge has been terminated!
Chicago Police Torture victim Andre Brown, serving 45 years
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 400
When: Thursday June 18 @ 9:30am, Judge Joseph Kazmierski JR
Andrew Brown was arrested for murder on Sept 30 1996 and taken to Chicago Police
District Area 1, where was he was interrogated and tortured by CPD Detective John
Halloran, Det. Kenneth Boudreau and Det. James O’Brien. He was sentenced to 45 years.
Chicago Police Torture victim William Negron, serving Life
Location: Cook County Court House 26th & California, Room 600
When: Monday June 29 @11:00 a.m
UPDATE : This June 29 hearing has been RE-SCHEDULED, new date to be determined
William Negron was tortured by Detective Reynaldo Guevara, falsely confessed, and was sent to prison for his natural life.
The evidentiary hearing for William Negron continues. Former police detective Bill Dorsch will testify about Guevara’s past misconduct.
Chicago Police Torture victim George Anderson, serving Life
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California RM 301
When: Wednesday July 1 @1:00 p.m. Judge William Hooks
George Anderson was one of the first cases that the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission ruled as torture. July 1st will be the first of day Mr Anderson’s evidentiary hearing.
George Anderson was arrested and taken to Area 3 of the Chicago Police Department
by Detective Michael Kill. He was initially questioned regarding a homicide, by
Det.Michael Kill, Det. Kenneth Boudreau, and Det. John Halloran. During the course of
this questioning Anderson was beaten repeatedly, including being kicked on the wrists
while he was handcuffed to the wall. He was threatened with further beatings if he did not
sign a confession handwritten by an Assistant State’s Attorney, Joseph Brent, which
Anderson did. Anderson was taken to another room in Area 3 where he was handcuffed
with his arms over his head.
While in this position Detective James O’Brien held an open telephone book over
Anderson’s left side, while Detective Joseph Stehlik struck him with a black rubber hose
multiple times. He agreed to sign another confession, also handwritten by an Assistant
State’s Attorney, Brian Crossman, relating to a second homicide case. The prosecutor
was Anita Alvarez.
Dets. Kill and O’Brien, have been accused of physical abuse and coercion in over 20
cases. Halloran has been accused of abuse and coercion in over 40 cases. Each of
the Detectives has, at various times, pled the 5th Amendment protection against
self-incrimination, when questioned about physically abusing detainees.
Chicago Police Torture victim Anthony Jakes
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 301
When: Tues August 4th, 2015 @ 10 am Judge William Hooks
Anthony Jake’s case, approved by the Illinois Torture and Relief Commission in July
2013 is now in front of the Circuit Court. A request for a date to be set for an evidentiary
hearing has been made by Anthony Jake’s attorneys.
In 1991, at the age of 15, Anthony Jakes was arrested and taken into Area 3 Violent
Crimes Unit at 39th & California by Chicago Police Detectives Michael Kill and Kenneth
Boudreau. After arriving at Area 3 he was then tortured and beaten, over a period of 16
hours by Kill and Boudreau, into a confession of murder and attempted armed robbery.
There were no eyewitnesses and no physical evidence to support the allegations.He was
released from the Illinois Department of Corrections after serving the entire sentence of
40 years of which he was required to serve half. He is the nephew of Chicago City
Alderman Carrie Austin.
Chicago Police Torture victim Jaime Hauad
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 602
When: Thursday August 13, 2015 @ 10 am Judge Stanley Sacks
Judge Stanley Sacks dismissed Jaime Hauad’s case stating that there was no new evidence warranting a new trial–an appeal is being made by his attorneys.
As reported in the June 25 Chicago Sun-Times,”Hauad said police during an interrogation cut off the fronts of his gym shoes with a paper cutter andthreatened to cut off his toes next if he didn’t confess. Police photos show Hauad’s gym shoes at first were in normal condition but later had their toe sections severed, just as Hauad said. Hauad also said he wasslapped and beaten while in custody.” (Read the Sun-Times article, and the long investigative report of the case in the Chicago Tribune.)
Chicago Police Torture victim Keith Walker
Location: County Court House, 26th & California, RM 704
When: Tue Jan 27th, 2015 @ 9:30am Judge Joseph Michael Claps
The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission found that there was evidence of torture
in the case of Keith Walker, he will receive an evidentiary hearing (date to be determined)
Keith Walker was allegedly involved in a 1991 south-side double murder after
being tortured
into a confession by Area 3 detectives working under Jon Burge.
Walker filed a petition for Post Conviction relief. On April 20, 2004, Judge Nicholas
Ford
summarily dismissed it. The judge saw no problem with Walker’s confession,
which had
been handwritten by a prosecutor and signed by Walker. That prosecutor
had testified
at a pretrial hearing in Walker’s case and given his name under oath as
”Nick Ford.”
After Walker’s petition had been dismissed, the Illinois appellate defender’s office
took
on his case. According to Judge Ford’s biography, it appears that the ASA
’Nick Ford’ who
testified against Walker at his suppression hearing in 1994 is the
same Judge Nicholas R. Ford
who denied Walker’s post-conviction petition in 2004.
He was sentenced to life without parole.
As an ASA Ford has been accused of using questionable tactics in the 1995 murder
trial of
Christopher Henyerd whose conviction was reversed due to Ford’s misconduct.
Chicago Police Torture victim Kilroy Watkins
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 101
When: Wed Feb 18th, 2015 @ 9:30am Judge Paul B Biebel Jr
Chicago police officers arrested Kilroy Watkins and took him to Area 3 in 1992, in
connection with an armed robbery. The next day, he confessed to committing a murder
in a separate incident. He has consistently claimed that his confession was coerced by
Detective Kenneth Boudreau and Detective John Halloran.
Kilroy Watkins was sentenced to 55 years in prison for armed robbery and first-degree
murder. He asserts that his conviction was unsupported by physical evidence. Prior to
trial, the detectives were deemed “to be more credible witnesses” during the hearing for
motion to suppress. Further, the State failed to disclose information, regarding a history
of misconduct and mistreatment of witnesses and suspects by the involved detectives,
which may have exonerated Watkins.
Watkins testified that the confession was the result of physical and psychological
coercion by Detectives Kenneth Boudreau and John Halloran, both were under the
command of Jon Burge. Boudreau and Halloran have been implicated in scores of cases
involving torture of suspects. The prosecutor in this case was Anita Alvarez.
Kilroy Watkins is also in the process of having his case heard with the Illinois Torture
Inquiry and Relief Commission.
Chicago Police Torture victim Reginald Henderson
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 306
When: Wed Feb 18th, 2015 @ 9:30am
Chicago Police Torture victim Jerome Johnson
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California
When: Friday Feb 20th, 2015 @ 9:30am Please check the smartKiosk to check for court room#
on day of hearing (machine is located in the Court House lobby)
On August 21, 1991 11-year old Jeremiah Miggins was killed in crossfire during a gang
shoot-out. Jerome Johnson along with co-defender Michael Sutton were the alleged
primary offenders.
Also, the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission referred other co-defender
George Anderson for an evidentiary hearing on June 13, 2012. It was concluded
that his claim of torture is credible and merits judicial review for appropriate relief.
Chicago Police Torture victim Johnnie Plummer
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 207
When: Tues April 7th, 2015 @ 9.30AM
Johnnie Plummer was just 15 years old when he was brought to Area 3 in 1991 to be questioned about a murder case he swears he had nothing to do with. He alleges that CPD Detective Michael Kill threatened him and hit him in the face, stomach and side, at times with a flashlight, before he gave a self-incriminating statement. Also involved in his case is Detective Kenneth Boudreau, who has been named in thirty-seven other cases of abuse and coercion.
Johnnie was convicted of first-degree murder and given life without parole. He later tried to have his confession thrown out, but the judge allowed it at trial. No evidence concerning the pattern and practice of torture under Burge was introduced at that hearing. Now 37 years old, he is at Menard Correctional Center.
Johnnie Plummer was one of two named petitioners in a class-action petition filed by Northwestern University Law School in Oct 2012. The petition, if allowed, would grant hearings to more than a hundred men, all imprisoned after they were tortured into confessing by disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge and/or the detectives under his control.
Plummer and Wade Post-Conviction Class Action Petition information:
On Wednesday, March 12, 2014 the class action post conviction petition, filed with lead petitioners Johnny Plummer and Vincent Wade, will be ruled on by Chief Judge Paul Biebel.
In October, 2012 both Plummer and Wade filed a post conviction class action on the behalf of all Chicago Police torture victims that remain incarcerated absent a hearing on their claim. Plummer claims while taken to area three violent crime unit in August, 1991 he was tortured to confess to a crime he did not commit, while Wade claims that in 1984 he was tortured into a false confession at area two violent crime unit. Both men claim to have been beaten and tortured by subordinates to Jon Burge and both men have overwhelming evidence that they are innocent of the crimes for which they are incarcerated.
Judge Biebel will make a decision as to whether an additional 100 men should be entitled to relief as the result of the class action petition. The petition is requesting that all procedural bars be waived and that theseadditional men are allowed hearings on their claims of torture. The action before the court is a first impression meaning this is the first of any kind. Post convictions are generally reserved only as an individual legalavenue for an inmate to challenge constitutional claims.
UPDATE Post-Conviction Class Action– Judge Paul Biebel in March 2014 released his ruling pertaining to the above class action post conviction petition which the People’s Law Office “PLO” filed in October, 2012. For more info about this ruling see here
Chicago Police Torture victim Miguel Morales
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 203
When: Thurs Jan 15th, 2015 @ 9.30 am Judge Carol M Howard
Miguel Morales’s attorneys recently won the right to receive aid, from the State
prosecutors, in locating the two key witnesses to the alleged crime Morales was charged
and convicted of in 1993.
The attorneys are also in search of other suspects who were also interrogated by some
of the same CPD detectives that interrogated and tortured Miguel.
In 1993 Miguel Morales was charged and convicted of alleged first-degree murder,
receiving a sentence of 45 years. The State’s case relied solely on witness testimony,
witnesses who later recanted their testimonies. One of these witnesses reported that he
was physically coerced, by Detective O’Brian, into making his statement identifying
Morales. Morales Miguel was taken to the police station at 51st Street and Wentworth,
where he was beaten and tortured by Chicago Police Detectives Halloran, Boudreau and
O’Brien.
The two co-defendants also charged in the case, Nick Escamilla and Tyrone
Reyna, were also tortured and beaten into false confessions, Tyrone, a juvenile at the
time of the arrest, was released after serving 25 years. Nick Escamilla was released
after 15 years under a no contest agreement with Illinois officials where he admitted no
guilt or innocence.
Chicago Police Torture victim Gerald Reed
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 302
When: Thurs Jan 8th 2015 @9.30am Judge Thomas Gainer
Judge Thomas Gainer, will be releasing his ruling on the motion to have the findings of
the Illinois Torture Enquiry and Relief Commission, that Gerald Reed was tortured, be
ruled as facts in his case.
Gerald Reed was convicted of a double murder and sentenced to life in prison. Reed
confessed after being interrogated by Detectives Michael Kill and Victor Breska. Both
detectives have refused to answer questions regarding their role in the torture of suspects.
The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission referred Reed’s case for an evidentiary
hearing in June 2012.
Despite the Torture Commission’s now two-year-old findings that there was a strong
probability that torture did occur, the court filings necessary to get Gerald Reed a new
hearing, or grant him immediate release, have been moving very slowly through the court
system. He greatly needs our support and solidarity at this next hearing on March 11.
Chicago Police Torture victim Clayborn Smith
Location: Cook County Court House, 26th & California, RM 602
When: Thurs May 1st 2104 @9.30 Judge Stanley Sacks
In July 2013 Clayborn Smith was granted a hearing before the Illinois Torture and Inquiry
Commission; they approved his claim of torture.
In 1992 Smith was arrested and taken to Area 3 of the Chicago Police Department.
He was beaten and tortured by Detectives John Halloran, Kenneth Boudreau and James
O’Brian into confessing the murder of two family members plus assault on an uncle.
Smith was wrongfully convicted and imprisoned at a trial in which the only evidence
against him was a “confession” that he has repudiated from the outset. He was
sentenced to life without parole.
As well as receiving approval from the Torture Commission, their findings also revealed
new details in Clayborn’s case, that there were flaws in the lab technician’s report.
Chicago Police Torture victim Shawn Whirl
Location: County Court House, 26th & California, RM 207
When: Thurs Feb 13th 2014@ 9.30am, Judge Jorge Alonso
Cook County circuit court judge Jorge Alonso ruled against Shaw Whirl’s petition that
had been filed by the Illinois Torture Inquiry Relief Commission. The Illinois Torture Inquiry
and Relief Commission had found overwhelming evidence to support Whirl’s claims of
torture and abuse from Detective James Pienta
Whirl alleged that he had been tortured inside a interrogation room on April 20, 1990 at
Area 2 Violent Crime Unit by Detective James Pienta a long time Jon Burge subordinate.
Judge Alonso stated in his ruling that Whirl, did not satisfy Judge William Cousins during h
is trial, that he had been the victim of torture, and had not met the standard of evidence to
prove that police ever tortured him. Whirl was represented by the Exoneration innocent
project Tara Thompson.
Burge was fired from the Chicago Police Department in 1993 for the torture of Andrew and
Jackie Wilson in 1982. A Cook County Special Prosecutor, that found evidence that Burge
tortures were systematic, conducted an investigation against Burge in 2006.
Whirl had several members of his family in court including his mother and brother.
Illinois Chester Mental Health Center Torture Victim David Poole
Location: 219 S. Dearborn Street, Chicago, Court RM 1241
When: Tues Feb18 2104 @ 8:30AM
Abuse inside Illinois Chester Mental Health Center in Chester, Illinois.
54 yr old David Poole has been incarcerated over 20 years at this center where he has
been abused psychologically, physically, and emotionally by guards and inmates.
Poole is suing the center to be transferred from Chester to Read Mental Hospital in
Oak Park, Illinois. A call was made for people to show this family support and to demand
justice for David. No one should be victimized and this behavior must be brought to an
immediate stop
Contact: Mark A. Clements, Wrongful Conviction Coordinator, Chicago Alliance Against
Racist and Political Repression