The cost to taxpayers of the settlements approved without debate by the City Council on Wednesday is equivalent to more than a third of the city’s annual $82 million budget to cover the cost of police misconduct lawsuits.
Exonerations
A new bill in the General Assembly would seek to remove the roughly $200,000 cap on payments to exonerees that maxes out at the 14-year mark, replacing it with a payout of $50,000 per year, capped at just over $2 million.
In December, Jimmy Soto saw the sunrise over Lake Michigan for the first time in 42 years. He is now discovering a completely different world from the one he left.
Several dozen more criminal convictions tied to Ronald Watts have been tossed out, bringing the total number of dismissals tied to the disgraced ex-Chicago police sergeant and his team in recent years to more than 200.
Working to reverse a notion that Chicago and Illinois have become false confession capitals in the U.S., Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed legislation Thursday that prohibits the use of deceptive tactics by law enforcement officers when interrogating juveniles.
Robert Smith claims Burge detectives beat false confession out of him
Robert Smith spent decades in prison on a wrongful murder conviction. Now, he’s suing the city and several Chicago Police Department detectives who worked under notorious Area 2 Commander Jon Burge, claiming they beat a false confession out of him.
More than 100 convictions tied to former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team have been thrown out in recent years. “Today, we were able to bring some justice to nine people who were targeted and victimized by former Sergeant Watts,” Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in a statement.
In all, 80 men and women, who were sentenced to 256 total years in prison across more than 100 cases tied to ex-CPD Sgt. Ronald Watts, have had their convictions dismissed over the past three years.
For the second year in a row, Illinois saw the highest number of criminal exonerations last year, and once again, that total was driven largely by false convictions tied to a corrupt former Chicago sergeant, according to a new report.
Nearly 100 felony drug convictions tied to disgraced former Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts have been tossed out since 2017.
Geraldo Iglesias spent 16 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit. Now he’s suing the city of Chicago and a disgraced former police detective who he claims set him up.
Nearly one out of every three criminal exonerations in the U.S. last year occurred in Illinois, according to a new report. Most of those cases stemmed from disgraced former police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his crew.
Plaintiffs claim they were framed by disgraced former police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his tactical team at a South Side housing project, and that a “code of silence” allowed it to happen.
Four men were exonerated of false drug convictions Wednesday, joining more than 60 others who’ve been falsely convicted and later exonerated in cases related to former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts.
Bill Amor spent two decades behind bars for a murder he says he didn’t commit. On Wednesday, a DuPage County judge agreed – and acquitted him in a retrial of a 1995 arson case.
Nevest Coleman spent nearly two decades in prison for a crime he didn't commit. Now he’s suing the city of Chicago, claiming he was beaten and coerced into giving a false confession.
