Chicago police officer Michael Ciancio (21 yr veteran from Jefferson Park District) was sentenced to 2 years in prison August 20, 2009, for taking cash from a tow-truck driver after steering him to accident scenes to beat rivals. He pocketed $600 to $800 weekly from 2005 to 2007 from a driver who worked undercover with the FBI. In January Ciancio pleaded guilty to attempted extortion for taking cash on one occasion in August 2007. Two tow-truck drivers who testified in federal court stated that Ciancio had been soliciting kickbacks since the 1990s. U.S. District Judge John Darrah said Ciancio used scare tactics to chase tow-truck drivers from accident scenes and threatened a false arrest on a citizen so that he could protect the people that were paying him off. The judge allowed Cancio to surrender to prison on October 19, 2009, so he could attend his daughter’s wedding.
Over three days in police custody, Michael Tillman was beaten with a phone book, punched in the face and stomach until he vomited blood, had a plastic bag put over his head and 7 Up poured into his nose in a crude form of waterboarding, a court petition says.
The only evidence was his confession which was extracted from him by the above methods of torture. Burge has still not been punished for his crimes. Mayor Daley was States Attorney and he and his staff allegedly after torture sessions came into the detainees holding cell, wrote out the “confessions” and had the prisoners sign them.
The Appellate Court said that the confession was “enough” evidence and denied the appeal of this conviction for the torture and murder of Betty Howard. Police had arrested Clarence Trotter who had Betty’s possessions with him and left fingerprints.
The Sun Times has a detailed article about all this and present attempts to exonerate and free Tillman. The People’s Law Office and Northwestern MacArthur Justice Center are litigating to bring this innocent man justice and life. He is presently serving a life sentence and his two children have now grown up without him.:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/24-7/1678441,CST-NWS-burge22.article
Former Cmd. Jon Burge of the Chicago Police is awaiting trail on perjury and obstruction of justice as the statute of limitations ran out on his other crimes. He is accussed of torturing dozens of prisoners into confessing by suffocation, electricity, crude waterboarding, and brutal beatings. The man does not deserve to be free. Dozens of inmates have already been freed but many remain wrongfully imprisoned.
I call on the legislature to pass a bill granting all of these people remaining in prison new trials and Gov. Quinn to make it a priority to review the cases of those remaining in prison for clemency/pardons for actual innocence.
I call upon the Illinois Appellate Court to sue sponte reverse their decision because “confession” under torture is not enough to convict especially when another man is caught with clear cut evidence. The Illinois Appellate Court will forever be in disrepute until they admit their error and correct it. We need a strong message that CONFESSION UNDER TORTURE IS NEVER ENOUGH!!!
