PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "After he was released from prison in 2011,
Swift sought to use forensic testing to clear himself in the killing of
Glover, who was found in a trash bin in the South Side neighborhood. DNA
from the crime scene turned out to match Douglas, who had a lengthy
criminal history. Prosecutors initially sought to explain the DNA link
by saying that Glover's history of trading sex for drugs meant she might
have had consensual sex with Douglas and that he was not her killer."
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: The Charles Smith Blog is interested in false confessions because of the disturbing number
of exonerations in the USA, Canada
and multiple other jurisdictions throughout the world, where, in the absence of
incriminating forensic evidence the conviction is based on self-incrimination –
and because of the growing body of
scientific research showing how vulnerable suspects (especially
juveniles) are to widely used interrogation methods such as the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’
Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
-----------------------------------------------------------
STORY: "City proposes $31 million settlement for Englewood Four's wrongful conviction," by reporter Dan Hinkel, published by The Chicago Tribune on December 8, 2017.
PHOTO CAPTION: "Harold Richardson,
from left, Vincent Thames, Terrill Swift and Michael Saunders were
convicted of a 1994 rape and murder but later were cleared."
GIST: "Chicago officials are poised to approve one
of the largest payouts for police misconduct litigation in city history
— nearly $31 million to settle lawsuits filed by the “Englewood Four,”
who each spent some 15 years in prison for a 1994 rape and murder before
DNA linked the crime to a convicted killer. The settlement would
add to the hundreds of millions of dollars that taxpayers have shelled
out in the last decade for a seemingly unending string of lawsuits
alleging misconduct by the troubled Chicago Police Department. Just six
weeks ago, a federal jury awarded a record-breaking $44.7 million in
damages. On Monday, the City Council’s Finance Committee is
scheduled to consider paying out $30.99 million to Michael Saunders,
Vincent Thames, Harold Richardson and Terrill Swift, who were teens when
they were arrested in the slaying of 30-year-old Nina Glover. City
Council approval of recommended legal settlements is generally a
formality. The four were convicted largely on their confessions,
but they later alleged their statements were coerced. Forensic testing
in 2011 matched DNA from Glover’s body to Johnny Douglas, a convicted
murderer and sex offender shot to death in 2008. A judge threw out their
convictions over the objections of prosecutors from the office of
then-State's Attorney Anita Alvarez.While
the proposed settlement would be one of the largest such payouts in
city history, it will be divided among the men. The city has repeatedly
paid out multimillion-dollar settlements or verdicts to individual
plaintiffs in wrongful conviction or misconduct lawsuits.........Three of the men are still suing Cook County based on the allegation
that prosecutors helped railroad them. Swift has already reached a $5.6
million settlement with the county......... Among the law enforcement
officials sued was Kenneth Boudreau, a former detective whose history
of obtaining dubious confessions has been detailed in past Tribune
stories. The suits also named James Cassidy, a former detective who also
allegedly helped obtain a false confession in a 1998 killing. The men
have denied any wrongdoing, and neither could be reached Friday. Alexa
Van Brunt, one of Swift’s lawyers, said the proposed settlement’s size
signifies the egregiousness of the harm done to the men, as well as the
blemished records of the officers involved. “I think there is just
a realization that a lot of constitutional rights were being violated
in Area One in the 1990s, and this case is just one really horrific
example,” she said. After he was released from prison in 2011,
Swift sought to use forensic testing to clear himself in the killing of
Glover, who was found in a trash bin in the South Side neighborhood. DNA
from the crime scene turned out to match Douglas, who had a lengthy
criminal history. Prosecutors initially sought to explain the DNA link
by saying that Glover's history of trading sex for drugs meant she might
have had consensual sex with Douglas and that he was not her killer. Alvarez abandoned the prosecution in 2012, but she stopped short of agreeing that the men were innocent. Federal
authorities opened a civil rights investigation into allegations of
misconduct by police and prosecutors against the four men, but no
charges resulted. The investigation has since been closed. That
investigation produced an unusual document from March 2012 that
summarized an interview an FBI special agent conducted with former
Assistant State's Attorney Terence Johnson, one of two prosecutors in
the felony review unit who worked with detectives to take statements and
approve charges against the four men. Johnson, whose legal career
ended in 2000 when he was convicted of felony sexual abuse of a minor,
alleged a cozy relationship between police and prosecutors. If police
felt prosecutors were slow to approve charges, they would complain to
supervisors in the state's attorney's office, Johnson said in the
interview. The city’s Law Department alleged in court filings that
Johnson made other statements under oath — including during a
deposition — that were inconsistent with his FBI interview. In his
FBI interview, Johnson said that the investigation of the Glover
homicide made him uncomfortable from the early stages. He told federal
investigators that detectives "coached and fed" witnesses and pressured
the defendants into confessing. Before statements were taken, Cassidy
and Boudreau rehearsed with witnesses what they wanted them to say and
corrected their responses if they weren't consistent with that version
of events, according to the report."
The entire story can be found at:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-englewood-four-multimillion-settlement-20171208-story.html
See previous post (January 17, 2012) of this Blog at the link below: 'Bulletin: Englewood Four finally exonerated. Arrests due to false confessions; not a shred of physical evidence.'..."Saunders, Richardson, Thames and Swift have spent most of their adult
lives in prison. They were between the ages of 15 and 18 when they
arrested. Based on false confessions and without a shred of physical
evidence, they were wrongfully convicted and sentenced to 30-40 years in
prison. Their cases, and others in Cook County, reveal a dangerous
pattern of injustice based on false confessions. The Innocence Project
is calling on Cook County to conduct a review of all cases involving
juvenile confessions. In the past four months, ten people have been
exonerated through DNA testing in Illinois after being unjustly
convicted based on confessions they gave as teenagers."
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2012/01/bulletin-englewood-four-finally.html?m=0
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the
Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my
previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put
considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith
and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic
pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses
on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please
send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest
to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy;
Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
