Torture claims unresolved

CHICAGO | 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 people who say they were tortured by officers but 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 already have completed prison terms for crimes they say they confessed to only after police beat or shocked them. More than 20 remain in prison.

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, say attorneys for those who say they were tortured .

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

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

Mr. 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.

In 2003, Gov. George Ryan, a Republican, pardoned four death row inmates who were convicted on evidence gathered by Mr. Burge and detectives under him. The four recently reached a $20 million settlement with the city.

Fewer than 10 of those who said they were tortured have received monetary compensation.

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

Mr. Taylor partly blames Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan for the lack of new trials for those who say their 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.

Mrs. Madigan’s office said that 11 of the 25 cases involving torture accusations 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, Mr. 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.