Politics
Pay $11.6M to Man Who Spent 20 Years in Prison After Being Wrongfully Convicted, City Lawyers Recommend
Chicago City Hall. (Michael Izquierdo / WTTW News)
Chicago taxpayers should pay $11.6 million to a man who spent 20 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of a 1991 murder, city lawyers recommended.
Anthony Jakes was 15 when he was arrested in connection with the September 1991 murder of 48-year-old Rafael Garcia during an attempted robbery near 51st Street and Racine Avenue in Back of the Yards.
Jakes was convicted and sentenced to 40 years in prison based on confessions coerced by Chicago police detectives trained by Jon Burge, a disgraced Chicago police commander, according to court records.
A judge granted Jakes a certificate of innocence in 2019. The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission found credible evidence he had been physically abused by Chicago Police.
In 2016, Jakes testified that Chicago police Detective Michael Kill beat him before he implicated himself in Garcia’s murder. During those proceedings, Kill acknowledged that he frequently used racial slurs when referring to Black people.
Jakes testified that Kill slapped him, threatened to throw him out of a window from the police station’s third floor, attempted to burn him with a lit cigarette and said he’d have gang members attack his family if he did not confess to Garcia’s murder, according to court records.
Jakes testified Kill knocked him to the floor and stomped on his back and stomach, according to court records.
Jakes had been in police custody for 16 hours when he confessed, and was only allowed to speak to a juvenile officer after he admitted to his involvement in Garcia’s murder. State law at the time required a juvenile officer to be present during interrogations of teens and children.
At his trial, the judge rejected Jakes’ bid to toss out his confession as coerced. His attorney presented no evidence in his defense.
At least 19 people have accused Kill of using violence to force them to confess to crimes they did not commit. Jakes’ lawsuit also named former Detective Kenneth Boudreau, who also reported to Burge.
Detectives trained by Burge have faced dozens of lawsuits and complaints alleging they physically abused those they suspected of committing crimes to coerce confessions.
No physical or forensic evidence linked Jakes to the crime, making his confession the only evidence against him, records show.
Earlier this year, Chicago taxpayers paid $50 million to four men who each spent 20 years in prison after being convicted in connection with a 1995 double murder based on evidence gathered by Boudreau and another detective trained by Burge, records show.
In all, six wrongful conviction cases naming Boudreau have been settled by the city, for a total of at least $70 million, records show. Another 10 wrongful conviction cases naming the now-retired officer are pending, including Jakes’ case, according to court records.
The proposed $11.6 million settlement is set to be considered Monday by the City Council’s Finance Committee. A final vote of the City Council could come on Wednesday.
The recommendation comes just days after a federal jury ordered Chicago to pay $50 million to Marcel Brown, who was wrongfully convicted of a 2008 and spent 10 years in prison before being exonerated.
Contact Heather Cherone: @HeatherCherone | (773) 569-1863 | [email protected]
