Tuesday, April 20, 2021

False Confession Series: (Part Four): Gerald Reed: Chicago: Even today, torture victims of deceased Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge's squad - accused of torturing more than 100 mainly black suspects to elicit confessions - are still trying to clear their name. Gerald Reed is one of them. Pardoned and freed by Governor Pritzker on April 1, 2021, but still awaiting exoneration in the criminal courts, Win9 Reporter Rob Sneed reports that Reed's mother has vowed to fully clear Reed's name and record.



PUBLISHER'S NOTE: This 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 young suspects)  are to widely used interrogation methods  such as  the notorious ‘Reid Technique.’ As  all too many of this Blog's post have shown, I also recognize that pressure for false confessions can take many forms, up to and including physical violence, even physical and mental torture.


Harold Levy: Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog:

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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Nota bene. When we talk about the 'Burge era' we are not discussing a dry, detached period of history. The fallout is still being felt. This post is the story of Gerald Reed who has been in prison for 30 years of his life by deceased Commander Jon Burge and his team who tortured confessions out of people. Gerald Reed was released early in April after being pardoned by Illinois Governor Pritzker.

Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog. 

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "“Reed has been incarcerated for 30 long years of his life and this still is not justice for Mr. Reed,” said Mark Clements of Chicago Torture Justice Center. “What people fail to realize is that Jon Burge and his detectives, they tortured confessions out of people. Some of those same detectives are deemed so credible where they are testifying against men and women to keep them in prison.”

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QUOTE TWO OF THE DAY: "Reed’s mother, Armanda Shackelford, told WGN she thought she’d never see the day her son was released from prison. “It shouldn’t have never happened in the first place place,” she said. “They never found any evidence to prove he did those crimes.” Shackelford says she wants the police officers involved in her son’s imprisonment not only to understand how she feels but asks that they hold themselves accountable. “Sir, that was so wrong what you did to my son,” she said. “I hope and pray that you never have the chance to hurt another person. You have to give an account for all the lives you’ve destroyed. All the families you have hurt.”


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STORY: Gerald Reed, who alleged forced confession in Burge era, commuted by Pritzker," by Reporter Rob Sneed, published by WGN 9 on April 1, 2021.


GIST: "Governor J.B. Pritzker has commuted Gerald Reed’s sentence, the man who claimed he was tortured into falsely confessing to a 1990 double murder under former Police Commander Jon Burge.


According to the Office of Gov. Pritzker, Reed was commuted as a result of time served.

Reed has long maintained his innocence, saying that the detectives — Michael Kill and Victor Breska — who forced a confession out of him were part of a squad under Burge’s command.

 

The group was accused of torturing more than 100 suspects — mostly black men — into confessions between 1972 and 1991.


Burge, who was fired from the department in 1993 but allowed to keep his pension, was convicted of perjury. He was sentenced to four years in prison but was never prosecuted for torture. He died in 2018.


The same year, a judge granted Reed a new trial but retired before Reed could have his day in court.


A new judge assigned to the case declined to move forward with a new trial.


“Reed has been incarcerated for 30 long years of his life and this still is not justice for Mr. Reed,” said Mark Clements of Chicago Torture Justice Center. 


“What people fail to realize is that Jon Burge and his detectives, they tortured confessions out of people. Some of those same detectives are deemed so credible where they are testifying against men and women to keep them in prison.”


Reed’s mother, Armanda Shackelford, told WGN she thought she’d never see the day her son was released from prison.


“It shouldn’t have never happened in the first place place,” she said. “They never found any evidence to prove he did those crimes.”


Shackelford says she wants the police officers involved in her son’s imprisonment not only to understand how she feels but asks that they hold themselves accountable.


“Sir, that was so wrong what you did to my son,” she said. “I hope and pray that you never have the chance to hurt another person. You have to give an account for all the lives you’ve destroyed. All the families you have hurt.”


Protesters on Thursday demanded that Cook County Special Prosecutor Robert Milan be stripped from Reed’s case and all others related to Burge.


Moving forward, Shackelford says her son will fight to clear his name and record. Reed is expected to be released from prison on Monday.


“We need to keep fighting,” she said. “I’m not going to give up. We’ve come too far. In this case, it’s come so far. I didn’t think it was going to come to an end. God saw different.""


The Associated Press contributed to this report.


The entire story can be read at:


https://wgntv.com/news/chicago-news/gerald-reed-who-alleged-force-confession-in-burge-era-commuted/


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;
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FINAL WORD:  (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases):  "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions.   They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they’ve exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;