Chicago Area Local News

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The City Council approved a $19.8 million settlement on behalf of four men who claim they were tortured by former police Lt. Jon Burge.

Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley, Stanley Howard and Leroy Orange were among scores of black suspects who claimed they were kicked, beaten and shocked into confessions in the 1970s and 80s at the Area 2 detective headquarters, which Lt. Burge headed in the 1980s.

Without the agreement, new Police Supt. Jody Weis -- whose appointment was confirmed Wednesday -- would have had a difficult time following through on his promise to re-establish trust between citizens and police in neighborhoods victimized by crime and police brutality.

With the settlement -- stalled by legal snags in December that were removed in January -- the dialogue can now begin.

"This case has really haunted the African-American community for a long time…..At this point, we can start the healing process in order to move forward," Ald. Anthony Beale (9th) said last month.

The settlement calls for the city to pay: Howard $800,000; $1 million to attorneys for Howard and Hobley; $5.5 million to Orange; $5 million to Patterson; and $7.5 million to Hobley.

Whether or not Hobley receives the full amount hinges on the outcome of the federal government's re-investigation into a 1987 South Side fire that killed seven people. Hobley was originally convicted of murder and arson, only to join Orange, Patterson and Howard in being pardoned by former Gov. George Ryan in 2003.

Under the agreement, Hobley will get $1 million immediately and the remaining $6.5 million only if he is not indicted by 2009, if the U.S. attorney's office announces he won't be indicted, or if he is indicted but found not guilty.

During Wednesday's emotional and cathartic debate, African-American aldermen expressed profound relief about the settlement they have demanded for years. But they urged Daley, who served as state's attorney during much of Burge's reign of terror, to go further by exploring legal avenues to justify cutting off Burge's pension and legal defense.

"We must never let anything approach this level of torture, in the city of Chicago," said 49th Ward Ald. Joe Moore.

"For the lies that you had to encounter, and the deceptions and the denials and the cover-ups in getting to the truth, I want to recognize you for that," 5th Ward Ald. Leslie Hairston said.

"I just hope that we never again see this kind of case come before the City Council," said 28th Ward Ald. Ed Smith. "It was a black eye on the city of Chicago and the people who live here."

The settlement of the lawsuit was originally reached on Dec. 7, but five days later, a session to approve the settlement fell apart.

Howard signed the agreement but penciled in a condition that he could file further legal claims against the city. City Chief Corporation Counsel Mara Georges ran it past the federal judge handling the case, and reported back that U.S. District Judge Marvin E. Aspen had agreed the change in language made the settlement different than what that the city had agreed upon.

A four-year study by two court-appointed special prosecutors released in July 2006 found that the torture occurred, but that the incidents were so old that the statute of limitations had long since run out, making it impossible to bring charges.

Burge was fired by the police department in 1993 after a suspect in the murder of two officers allegedly was abused while in his custody. Attorneys for the alleged torture victims say he should still be prosecuted, and federal authorities have discussed the possibility.

The four plaintiffs were part of a story that made international headlines in January 2003 when then-Gov. George Ryan pardoned them and commuted the sentences of every death row inmate in the state in a stinging rebuke of capital punishment.

Hobley and Orange have been out of custody since Ryan ordered them pardoned. Howard remained in prison on unrelated charges. Patterson also was released from prison, but in August was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison after being convicted on drug and weapons charges.

Patterson's mother says he still has nightmares from the torture.

"The money doesn't make me feel better, it doesn't give me closure," Joann Patterson said.

Orange says he is not at peace.

"I still think I'm gonna cringe, or feel strange when some police look at me because I'm African American," he said.

Burge lives in Florida and receives his city pension. Some council members say the city should fight to revoke that, and they say Burge should be indicted.

The U.S. attorney confirms he's conducting an investigation.


CBS 2's Joanie Lum, the STNG Wire and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

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