[Ppnews] Chicago - Feds Investigating Burge!

[Political Prisoner News]

U.S. attorney, FBI probing allegations of police torture




BURGE CASE | 148 claim they were beaten in 1980s

Chicago Sun Times, September 27, 2007
BY <mailto:apallasch at suntimes.com>ABDON M. PALLASCH AND 
<mailto:ldonovan at suntimes.com>LISA DONOVAN Staff Reporters
The U.S attorney and the FBI are investigating 20-year-old claims 
that Chicago Police under the command of former Lt. Jon Burge 
tortured confessions out of suspects and lied about it under oath.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald never actually said the name 
"Burge," but an attorney representing some of his alleged victims in 
a civil suit said those are the civil cases Fitzgerald referred to 
Wednesday when he said:
"The United States attorney's office is conducting an active criminal 
investigation into allegations of perjury, false statements and 
obstruction of justice by officers who served in the Chicago Police 
Department in the 1980s, in relation to currently pending federal 
civil lawsuits in which persons in Chicago Police Department custody 
during those years allege they were abused." Fitzgerald was speaking 
at an unrelated news conference.
At least 148 men, almost all of them African-American, told a special 
prosecutor that Burge and his officers at the old Area 2 police 
station beat them to extract confessions. Some of those men went to 
Death Row on false confessions until former Gov. George Ryan pardoned 
them. The city fired Burge, saying he was responsible for the torture 
of suspects. But a special prosecutor concluded it was too late to 
file charges against Burge or his officers.
The city also provided attorneys to defend Burge against civil suits 
that have cost the city $8 million in lawyers' fees so far. Burge 
lives in Florida and draws a city pension.
'We're very pleased'
Special Prosecutor Edward Egan said last year that at least a dozen 
police officers in Burge's "midnight crew" at the Area 2 station in 
Pullman tortured suspects, and at least three former prosecutors 
acquiesced or at least failed to ask why suspects appeared battered 
and bruised.
Egan turned the results of his four-year investigation over to 
Fitzgerald to see if he could bring charges.
"We're very pleased that decades after [former Cook County State's 
Attorney, now Mayor] Richard Daley should have prosecuted Burge, the 
U.S. attorney's office are looking into the conduct of his men," said 
Flint Taylor, who represents one of the men who says he was tortured. 
"It's time we put Burge and his men behind bars, where they so richly 
deserve to be."


Feds looking into possible perjury charges against Burge




Pardonned Hobley investigated again



WLS


  By Charles Thomas

September 26, 2007 - An ex-officer accused of torturing suspects may 
face perjury charges, according to officials.


The news of a possible investigation into police torture at the 
command of former Chicago Police Commander John Burge was announced 
Wednesday at a City Council finance committee hearing. The meeting 
was held to explain why the city did not pay out on a $15 million 
settlement reached with three suspects who were allegedly tortured by 
Burge or his men.

One of the men involved in the police torture lawsuit is Madison 
Hobley, who was pardoned by ex. Gov. George Ryan. He, too, said he 
was tortured by Burge.
"We're confident they're using that as a negotiation tool and what 
the feds are actually investigating is John Burge and his torture of 
Madison Hobley," said Flint Taylor, plaintiff's attorney.
Fitzgerald confirmed there is an investigation underway into Burge 
and his detectives.
"The investigation is into allegations of perjury involving testimony 
in recent and pending federal civil lawsuits," Patrick Fitzgerald, US 
attorney said.
On Wednesday, federal investigators also said Hobley is being 
investigated- this time by the feds- in the same murder for which he 
was pardoned.
"The federal government is pursuing a murder/arson investigation for 
the same crime that Madison Hobley was originally convicted for," 
said Mara Georges, city corporation counsel.
Georges said she was told to keep the information secret last year, 
but has since been given permission to release it. The U.S. confirmed 
a few hours later that Hobley is a subject of a new federal 
investigation into the 1987 murders of seven people in an arson fire 
on Chicago's South Side.
"This would be a federal offense. Double jeopardy does not bar them 
pursuing the case," said Fitzgerald.
Hobley spent 16 years on death row. He and two others are now suing 
the City of Chicago for police torture. Several aldermen were 
pressuring the law department to settle the Burge lawsuits. A study 
projected the city could be out $195 million in a jury trial.
"It could put us in a very precarious position financially," said Ald 
Ed Smith, 28th Ward.
Georges was asked if the city would separate Hobley's case and 
negotiate settlements with other plaintiffs.
"I cannot discuss specifics of the settlement or what the unresolved 
issues were," Georges said.
The city has already paid about $16 million in legal fees to defend 
various Burge-related lawsuits.
Charles Thomas

ABC7 News Team



Alleged torture by police is now a federal matter




U.S. also probing '87 fire that killed 7

By Jeff Coen and Gary Washburn, Tribune staff reporters Tribune staff 
reporters Michael Higgins and Steve Mills also contributed to this report
September 27, 2007
After years of listening to calls for a federal investigation into 
the Chicago police torture scandal that allegedly ran from the 1970s 
into the early 1990s, U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald announced 
Wednesday that his office is engaged in a criminal investigation of the matter.

Without using the names of former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge or 
the detectives who worked under him, Fitzgerald said his office would 
look into whether any of the officers lied under oath or obstructed 
justice as part of the civil litigation resulting from allegations 
that police tortured dozens of suspects.

Fitzgerald also confirmed a surprise disclosure earlier Wednesday 
from the Daley administration's top attorney that federal prosecutors 
have launched an investigation into the fatal 1987 fire that led to 
the conviction in state court of Madison Hobley, an alleged victim of 
Burge's torture.

Hobley and four other former Death Row inmates have sued Burge and 
more than 20 officers who worked with him, mostly at Area 2, alleging 
that they were coerced into falsely confessing to murders. Attempts 
to reach a settlement between the city and three of the plaintiffs 
ran aground, renewing calls by community groups and politicians for a 
federal investigation.

Fitzgerald said he would not speculate on the possible outcome of 
either probe. A special prosecutors' report paid for by the county 
and released last year concluded that dozens of suspects had been 
tortured but that no one could be prosecuted because the statute of 
limitations had run out.

"We're not going to prejudge what will happen," Fitzgerald said at a 
news conference called to announce an unrelated arrest. "We're not 
going to predict whether there will be charges or anything beyond 
that, but we do want to make clear that we're very, very serious 
about this investigation."

Flint Taylor, an attorney with the People's Law Office who has 
represented some of the plaintiffs in the Burge suits, said Burge 
denied any torture took place while answering written questions in 
2003 as part of the lawsuit filed by Hobley. By contrast, in 
deposition testimony since then, Burge has consistently invoked his 
5th Amendment right against self-incrimination, Taylor said.

If federal prosecutors conclude that Burge lied in his 2003 answers, 
that would fall within the statute of limitations, Taylor said

One of Burge's lawyers, James Sotos, declined to comment but said he 
believes that Burge only has answered questions in the 2003 sworn 
written statement.

Reached in Florida, Burge declined to comment on Fitzgerald's 
disclosure of a criminal investigation.

"I am not at liberty to discuss the situation," Burge said. "I'm sure 
you understand."

Earlier Wednesday, Corporation Counsel Mara Georges released a letter 
from Gary Shapiro, Fitzgerald's top assistant, formally disclosing 
that the Justice Department is investigating the events surrounding 
the 1987 fire that killed seven people. Hobley spent 16 years on 
Death Row for the crime before he was pardoned by Gov. George Ryan in 
early 2003.

In his Sept. 17 letter to Georges, Shapiro noted he had asked her 
earlier to keep the information about the investigation confidential 
because public disclosure could have jeopardized the probe.

"We no longer believe that to be the case," he wrote without further 
elaboration in the two-paragraph letter.

The investigation, which Georges said was disclosed to her last fall, 
explains why the city backed away last November from a proposed $14.8 
million settlement with Hobley and two of the other alleged torture victims.

Taylor called Georges early release of that information troubling and 
said it was a preemptive strike by the city to get ahead of 
Fitzgerald's announcement.

Taylor also noted that two depositions of former officers in the 
Burge lawsuits were abruptly canceled Wednesday as well.

U.S. District Judge Marvin Aspen on Tuesday suggested a proposed 
figure to settle the lawsuits, according to Taylor and Georges. 
Taylor would say only that it was no lower than $14.8 million.

Fitzgerald said that his office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco 
and Firearms are actively investigating the 1987 fire. Although 
Fitzgerald wouldn't name the target of the probe, Georges earlier 
made it clear that Hobley is the focus.

State prosecutors such as Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine 
could not charge Hobley again for the same offense due to the 
Constitution's ban on "double jeopardy." But federal prosecutors 
would not necessarily have the same restraint.

"I will say this," Fitzgerald told reporters. "If we file charges ... 
if we believe there's evidence sufficient to prove that they carried 
out this murder, it would be irrelevant legally whether or not that 
person was charged or convicted or pardoned in the state system. ... 
There is a federal statute that makes arson by murder a federal offense."

Attorney Steven A. Miller, a former federal prosecutor, agreed that 
Hobley has no protection from the federal government.

Ryan pardoned four of the men, including Hobley, after Burge's 
alleged wrongdoing came to light.





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