Alleged torture victims of former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge who pleaded for pardons by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich days before his removal from office must continue to press on for resolution.
Alleged torture victims of former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge who pleaded for pardons by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich days before his removal from office must continue to press on for resolution.
Several relatives of alleged Burge victims, including Aaron Patterson’s mother, JoAnn Patterson, went to Blagojevich’s downtown office last month seeking the pardons, fearing that once the impeached governor was ousted, they’d have no chance.
Those fears were confirmed last week.
Blagojevich did not answer their requests, and the written pleas are not on Gov. Patrick Quinn’s radar to address, either, at the moment.
“The governor does not have any plans at this time to pardon any of the alleged victims,” Bob Reed, a spokesman for Quinn, told the Defender.
The alleged victims claimed Burge and his officers tortured them into confessions through beatings, electric shock and other heinous methods.
Burge was fired by the Chicago Police Department in 1993 and indicted in October on perjury and obstruction of justice charges. Federal prosecutors have widened the investigation to include officers under Burge’s command when the alleged torture acts took place.
Nathson Fields said the news was “heartbreaking” but won’t give up on his own quest to be pardoned.
Fields was put on Death Row and spent 18 years in prison for double murder. He was granted a new trial because of legal woes his judge was entangled in.
“I spent 11-and-a-half years of my time on Death Row. I’m out on a $100,000 appeal bond now because the judge, Thomas Maloney, took a bribe,” Fields said.
JoAnn Patterson was also disappointed but vowed to continue to fight for those wrongfully convicted as a result of alleged torture by Burge and his underlings.
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