Two former Black Chicago police superintendents were among the defendants named in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday by an allege torture victim of former Chicago police lieutenant Jon Burge.
Two former Black Chicago police superintendents were among the defendants named in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday by an allege torture victim of former Chicago police lieutenant Jon Burge. Plaintiff Ronald Kitchen, 44, is suing Leroy Martin and Terry Hillard along with Burge, Mayor Richard M. Daley, and others for his 21-year false imprisonment. Martin was police superintendent from 1997 to 1982; Hillard from 1998 to 2003. On Monday Burge was found guilty in federal court for perjury and obstruction of justice stemming from a 2003 civil suit where U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald said he lied under oath about witnessing or participating in allege tortures of suspects during the 1970s and 1980s. According to the suit, the former superintendents are targets because “from 1987 to 1992, defendant Leroy Martin was the superintendent of police for the city of Chicago, and was responsible for the policies, practices, and customs complained of herein. In 1983, he was commander of the Area 2 Detective Division and was defendant Burge’s direct supervisor.” As for Hillard, “from 1998 to 2004, defendant Terry Hillard was the superintendent of police for the city of Chicago, and was responsible for the policies, practices, and customs complained of herein,” the suit stated. Daley served as Cook County State’s Attorney from 1981 to 1989, “and during that period was responsible for the policies, practices and customs of that office. From 1989 to the present, defendant Daley has been the mayor of the city of Chicago and is the chief policymaker for the city of Chicago, its police department, City Council, and Police Board,” according to the suit. Martin, Hillard, Burge and Daley could not be reached for comment. Kitchen plead guilty to the 1988 murders of two women and three children and served 21-years in prison as a result. However, Kitchen said at a Thursday news conference, that the only reason why he confessed was because Burge and two officers beat, kicked and taunted him over 16 hours, striking him with a phone receiver, a phone book, and a blackjack. On July 7, 2009 Kitchen was freed but only after the Illinois Attorney General’s office dropped all charges. The goal, said Mike Truppa, a spokesman for Kitchen, “is to seek justice not only for him but for all those who tortured by the Chicago police.” Sentencing for Burge is set for Nov. 5. He faces a maximum of 45 years in prison. Copyright 2010 Chicago Defender.
