Chicago torture victims face uphill legal battle

[October 23, 2008]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Melvin Jones says he screamed and begged for mercy as Chicago police touched metal clips to his feet and thighs, churned a hand-cranked device and sent shock waves of electricity through his body more than 25 years ago.

He says he was told the torture would stop when he confessed to murder.

Jones is among the dozens of alleged torture victims who have little hope of winning compensation, despite the arrest this week of a former police commander who officials say lied about the abuse.

Some have already completed prison terms for crimes they claim they confessed to only after police beat or electrocuted them. More than 20 remain in prison.

But the indictment of former police Lt. Jon Burge -- while a moral victory -- is unlikely to spring anyone from prison soon or prompt any quick settlement of claims for damages, lawyers for alleged torture victims say.

The state attorney general's office hasn't agreed to new trials for those claiming coerced confessions and the city opposes paying damages to alleged victims, they say.

"There hasn't been much courage shown by high political officials," attorney Flint Taylor, who represents Jones, said Wednesday. "That's something that needs to be changed before this nightmare can end."

Burge, 60, was charged with lying in a civil rights lawsuit when he said he and detectives never engaged in activities such as "bagging" -- covering a suspect's head with a typewriter cover until he couldn't breathe.

Then-Gov. George Ryan pardoned four Death Row inmates who were convicted on evidence gathered by Burge and detectives under him. The four recently reached a $20 million settlement with the city.

Fewer than 10 of the alleged victims have received monetary compensation.

Legally speaking, the deck seems stacked against most of the men.

Taylor partly blames Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan for the lack of new trials for those whose convictions were based solely or primarily on coerced confessions.

"She has sat on this for five or six years -- with the exception of one or two cases," he said.

Madigan's office responded that 11 of the 25 cases of alleged torture that the office took on in 2003 have been resolved. They include three pardons and two cases in which a judge ordered the men free.

Several of the 14 other cases were delayed because defense attorneys wanted to wait for publication of a special prosecutor's report that wasn't released until 2006, said Madigan spokeswoman Robyn Ziegler.

"There has been no delay attributed to the attorney general's office," she said.

Attempts to win compensation for torture victims could be thwarted by statutes of limitations, Taylor said. Those who served time or are still in prison can sue only if the governor or courts exonerate them -- by granting pardons or new trials, he said.

Despite legal obstacles to new lawsuits, Taylor said "the claim for reparations is one of moral and political righteousness," noting Burge and his subordinates collect pensions.

"If you're gonna pay $1.25 million a year in pensions to these guys, you should pay some money to the men who were victimized regardless of whether you have a legal obligation to do so," he said.

Time could run out for some alleged victims, including Jones, who Taylor said is gravely ill. He declined to disclose the nature of his client's illness.

"But he was tortured by our government and under our laws he should be compensated," Taylor said. "But for a successful cover up by the city, he would have gotten compensation a long time ago."

[Associated Press; By MICHAEL TARM]

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