Jon Burge - Abuse-related Decisions - Review

Review

In 2002, the Cook County Bar Association, the Justice Coalition of Chicago and others petitioned for a review of the allegations against Burge. Edward Egan, a former prosecutor, Illinois Appellate Court jurist, and semiretired lawyer who lived in Florida, was appointed as a Special State's Attorney (a/k/a "special prosecutor") to investigate allegations dating back to 1973. He hired an assistant, several lawyers and retired Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. The only prior official investigation, which resulted in Burge's firing, had been by the Office of Professional Standards, which determined that "the preponderance of evidence is that abuse did occur and that it was systematic." Former prosecutor Robert D. Boyle was also appointed as a special prosecutor. In 2003, former Chief of the Special Prosecution Division of the U.S. Attorney's Office Gordon B. Nash Jr. was appointed as an additional special prosecutor.

A total of 60 cases were ordered to be reviewed. A special prosecutor was hired because Cook County State's Attorney, Richard Devine, had a conflict of interest stemming from his tenure at the law firm of Phelan, Pope & John, which defended Burge in two federal suits. Criminal Courts Judge Paul P. Biebel Jr. presided over the determination of the need of a review to determine the propriety of criminal charges and the appointment of the special prosecutor.

During the written phase of the investigation Burge and eight other officers pleaded the Fifth Amendment. On September 1, 2004, Burge was served with a subpoena to testify before a grand jury in an ongoing criminal investigation of police torture while in town for depositions on civil lawsuits at his attorney's office. Burge pled the Fifth Amendment to virtually every question during a 4 hour civil case deposition. He only answered questions about his name, his boat's name (Vigilante) and his $30,000 annual pension. The City of Chicago continues to be bound by court order to pay for Burge's legal fees. The service of the subpoena was quite storied with Burge eluding servers at Midway Airport and a team placed at his lawyer's office before dawn. Eventually, several police officers were granted immunity in order to further the investigation into Burge.

Three years into the investigation no criminal charges had been filed although several civil suits were filed in federal court. By that time, a total of 139 victims were involved in the case as were 19 investigators. Disappointment on the progress caused the victims to request the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights allot them an hour-long hearing at their October 2005 session.

On May 19, 2006 an initial ruling was made to release the special report on torture accusations. On June 20, 2006, the Illinois Supreme Court unblocked the release of the special report by Egan that took 4 years and cost $17 million. In the end 148 cases were evaluated. The investigation revealed that in three of the cases prosecutors could have proved beyond a reasonable doubt in court that torture by the police involving five former officers including Burge had occurred. Half of the claims were deemed credible, but because of the statute of limitations no indictments were handed out. Mayor Daley and all law enforcement officials who had been deposed were excluded from the report. Also, the 75 credible abuse cases were overlooked with the report focusing on doubts about the actual torture of pardoned death row inmates. Among the final costs were $6.2 million for the investigation and $7 million to hire outside counsel for Burge and his cohorts. Although the statute of limitations argument was a disappointment to many, the argument was very elaborately detailed in an 18 page section of the report. Debates in the op-ed pages continued for days and Egan explained his report to the public with legal theories and federal jurisdiction issues.

On the same day of the initial ruling to release the special report was made, the 36th session of the United Nations Committee Against Torture issued its "Conclusions and recommendations of the Committee against Torture" report of the United States. The document states, "The Committee is concerned at allegations of impunity of some of the State party’s law-enforcement personnel in respect of acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. The Committee notes the limited investigation and lack of prosecution in respect of the allegations of torture perpetrated in areas 2 and 3 of the Chicago Police Department (art. 12). The State party should promptly, thoroughly and impartially investigate all allegations of acts of torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment by law-enforcement personnel and bring perpetrators to justice, in order to fulfil its obligations under article 12 of the Convention. The State party should also provide the Committee with information on the ongoing investigations and prosecution relating to the above-mentioned case."

In 2002, Special State's Attorney (a/k/a "special prosecutor") Egan was appointed by Judge Paul P. Biebel, Jr., Presiding Judge of the Criminal Division of the Circuit Court of Cook County, who directed Egan to investigate (and, if appropriate, prosecute) the accusations. Egan's review, which cost $17 million, revealed improprieties that resulted in no action due to the statute of limitations.

Four of Burge's death row inmate victims—Aaron Patterson, LeRoy Orange, Stanely Howard, and Madison Hobley—filed suit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the City of Chicago, Burge, several of Burge's former subordinate police detectives, Cook County, and a few current and former State's Attorneys and assistant state's attorneys of Cook County (the precise list of police officers and prosecutors varied somewhat from plaintiff to plaintiff). Although each case was randomly assigned to a different district judge, the parties all consented to have the four cases consolidated for discovery management before Magistrate Judge Geraldine Soat Brown. A settlement of $19.8 million was reached in December 2007 between the plaintiffs and the so-called "city defendants" consisting of the City of Chicago, Burge, the other former detectives, and former Cook County State's Attorney (and Mayor of Chicago at the time of the settlement) Richard M. Daley. The cases against Cook County and the other current/former prosecutors continue as of July 2008. Having never been convicted of a felony, Burge continues to receive a police pension to which he is entitled under Illinois state law.

After being fired, Burge lived in Apollo Beach, Florida, a suburb of Tampa. In 1994, he bought his current wood-frame home for $154,000 and a 22 ft (6.7 m) motorboat. While a police officer Burge had owned a 40-foot (12 m) cabin cruiser named The Vigilante that he maintained at Burnham Harbor. Upon retiring at full pension he ran a fishing business in Florida. The precise amount of his pension is not a matter of public record, but he was eligible for 50% of his approximately $60,000 salary.

The torture revelations led to actions to mandate videotaping of confessions. The case has been chronicled in various formats in the mass media. The book Unspeakable Acts, Ordinary People (2001, ISBN 0-520-23039-6) by John Conroy includes four chapters on Burge's story. Also, the 1994 Public Broadcasting Service documentary film, co-produced with Peter Kuttner, that was entitled The End of the Nightstick, analyzed the torture charges against Burge.