A Burge Juror Speaks Out
June 29, 2010
(AP/file)
John Burge faces 45 years in prison for lying about the torture of suspects. That torture happened in a small interview room at a police station on chicago's south side was supposed to remain secret. Now it's official Chicago history.
It's been a long accepted fact that torture occurred under Burge in the 1970s and 1980s. He was fired in 1993 after a police investigation. The city of Chicago has paid out millions to torture victims, and former Illinois Gov. George Ryan cleared death row in 2003 because so many Burge victims were being proven innocent.
But no cops had been prosecuted.
In 2008 U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald charged Burge with lying in court papers in a civil lawsuit. Yesterday he said the delayed conviction is not a full measure of justice.
FITZGERALD: These sort of things that happened in 1982 and 1985, being punished 25, 28 years later, that's not a full measure of justice. On the other hand the sense that finally, there's a verdict that stands there that a jury found beyond a reasonable doubt, all twelve of them, that this happened should be some measure of justice to recognize and reckon with history.
The history of this saga was unknown to Gary Dollinger when he was called to be a juror.
DOLLINGER: I could honestly say, walking into this trial, I really didn't know anything about the case. And it was kind of weird because they tell us beforehand we're going into a major political case that has a lot of media publicity and huge ramifications and yet I've got no clue what the heck is going on here at first.
Dollinger thought he might be on the Blagojevich jury. Now he's standing across the street from federal court watching a rag tag group of about 25 protestors and hoping to see Burge leave the building.
He's 31 years old.
DOLLINGER: You know we're talking about a case that was almost before my time.
The first victim to testify he'd been tortured said the abuse occured in 1973. That was before Dollinger was even born.
The victims of torture were less than ideal witnesses. Most had lengthy criminal histories. One is a homeless heroin addict, and another is nicknamed "Satan."
And Andrew Wilson shot and killed two police officers.
DOLLINGER:What some of those people had done, it's just despicable and that's what the decision harder.
But Dollinger says the testimony was bolstered by photos, medical records, and statements from doctors and lawyers.
DOLLINGER: You can't just discount all of it. If it was just their word against Jon Burge, nobody else, maybe you could start questioning it, throw in some reasonable doubt but there's just too much evidence to just say that they're just making it all up.
Dollinger says if there had been just one case of torture, they probably wouldn't have convicted, but there were six cases, and jurors wondered if there were more.
Another important factor was the testimony of Michael McDermott, a white cop who said he walked into a room and saw Burge pointing a gun at a suspect and putting a plastic typewriter cover over his head.
He said that in secret grand jury proceedings, but he pulled back from that in front of this jury.
Nonetheless, Dollinger says it put him over the top to convict.
DOLLINGER: It felt like he was trying to lessen the impact without changing his statement too much. I mean he said the gun came out. It was in the general direction of him. It wasn't over his head, the plastic in front of his head, but he never came out and said this didn't happen.
And then there was the testimony of Jon Burge himself. Dollinger liked him but he says there were a lot of little holes in Burge's story. Like the gun pointing incident seen by the other detective.
Burge said he pulled his gun out to put it away in his desk.
DOLLINGER: I could pull something out, put in on my desk, it's not going to look like I'm pointing it at somebody so it just doesn't make sense.
Dollinger says, still, he feels bad for Burge. He says Burge served the city well and he hopes the judge doesn't lock him up and throw away the key.
But for some torture victims, this conviction is a victory but it's not enough.
CANNON: I can't really jump for joy because I don't want people to lose sight of the bigger picture. Darrell Cannon spent 23 years in prison after he says he falsely confessed to murder because he was being tortured.
CANNON: 'A' was to get the leader. We got the leader. 'B' is to get his cohorts.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald won't say whether other detectives will be charged, but he says the investigation remains open. Attorneys for torture victims say those men need to be compensated, and they want the courts to review the cases of the more than 20 men who gave coerced confessions and are still in prison.
It's been a long accepted fact that torture occurred under Burge in the 1970s and 1980s. He was fired in 1993 after a police investigation. The city of Chicago has paid out millions to torture victims, and former Illinois Gov. George Ryan cleared death row in 2003 because so many Burge victims were being proven innocent.
But no cops had been prosecuted.
In 2008 U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald charged Burge with lying in court papers in a civil lawsuit. Yesterday he said the delayed conviction is not a full measure of justice.
FITZGERALD: These sort of things that happened in 1982 and 1985, being punished 25, 28 years later, that's not a full measure of justice. On the other hand the sense that finally, there's a verdict that stands there that a jury found beyond a reasonable doubt, all twelve of them, that this happened should be some measure of justice to recognize and reckon with history.
The history of this saga was unknown to Gary Dollinger when he was called to be a juror.
DOLLINGER: I could honestly say, walking into this trial, I really didn't know anything about the case. And it was kind of weird because they tell us beforehand we're going into a major political case that has a lot of media publicity and huge ramifications and yet I've got no clue what the heck is going on here at first.
Dollinger thought he might be on the Blagojevich jury. Now he's standing across the street from federal court watching a rag tag group of about 25 protestors and hoping to see Burge leave the building.
He's 31 years old.
DOLLINGER: You know we're talking about a case that was almost before my time.
The first victim to testify he'd been tortured said the abuse occured in 1973. That was before Dollinger was even born.
The victims of torture were less than ideal witnesses. Most had lengthy criminal histories. One is a homeless heroin addict, and another is nicknamed "Satan."
And Andrew Wilson shot and killed two police officers.
DOLLINGER:What some of those people had done, it's just despicable and that's what the decision harder.
But Dollinger says the testimony was bolstered by photos, medical records, and statements from doctors and lawyers.
DOLLINGER: You can't just discount all of it. If it was just their word against Jon Burge, nobody else, maybe you could start questioning it, throw in some reasonable doubt but there's just too much evidence to just say that they're just making it all up.
Dollinger says if there had been just one case of torture, they probably wouldn't have convicted, but there were six cases, and jurors wondered if there were more.
Another important factor was the testimony of Michael McDermott, a white cop who said he walked into a room and saw Burge pointing a gun at a suspect and putting a plastic typewriter cover over his head.
He said that in secret grand jury proceedings, but he pulled back from that in front of this jury.
Nonetheless, Dollinger says it put him over the top to convict.
DOLLINGER: It felt like he was trying to lessen the impact without changing his statement too much. I mean he said the gun came out. It was in the general direction of him. It wasn't over his head, the plastic in front of his head, but he never came out and said this didn't happen.
And then there was the testimony of Jon Burge himself. Dollinger liked him but he says there were a lot of little holes in Burge's story. Like the gun pointing incident seen by the other detective.
Burge said he pulled his gun out to put it away in his desk.
DOLLINGER: I could pull something out, put in on my desk, it's not going to look like I'm pointing it at somebody so it just doesn't make sense.
Dollinger says, still, he feels bad for Burge. He says Burge served the city well and he hopes the judge doesn't lock him up and throw away the key.
But for some torture victims, this conviction is a victory but it's not enough.
CANNON: I can't really jump for joy because I don't want people to lose sight of the bigger picture. Darrell Cannon spent 23 years in prison after he says he falsely confessed to murder because he was being tortured.
CANNON: 'A' was to get the leader. We got the leader. 'B' is to get his cohorts.
U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald won't say whether other detectives will be charged, but he says the investigation remains open. Attorneys for torture victims say those men need to be compensated, and they want the courts to review the cases of the more than 20 men who gave coerced confessions and are still in prison.
