Their Only Concern Is Convictions

Thank you for the article by Mr. Howard Wiley ("Faked into confessing by Chicago police," July 2001).

Like Mr. Wiley, I encountered a similar situation in 1969. I was picked up by Cook County Sheriff's Police detectives regarding a 1967 rape and murder. They received statements from my ex-wife (with whom I was going through a bitter divorce at the time), and based on her statements, they confronted me after work on a Saturday night and asked if I would come to the station for some routine questions which would take no more than 30 minutes.

Some 10 to 11 hours later, I was charged with this crime (I have no previous juvenile or adult criminal record), after giving incriminating statements against myself which I maintain were coerced.

I was held in Cook County Jail without bond and faced the death penalty. By the time of my trial in June 1970, it was clear that none of the physical evidence gathered between 1967 and 1969 corroborated with the statements taken by the police.

After a biased bench trial by former Judge Louis Garippo, I was convicted and sentenced to 35 to 100 years in prison. I served 14 years and was paroled in 1983. I successfully completed my parole in 1990.

During my incarceration, I discovered that my blood type did not match blood found at the crime scene (something my public defenders didn't bother to examine before my trial).

Once again, the authorities are proving that their only concern is convictions.

When they rely on incriminating statements only, as in the cases of Mr. Wiley and myself, and ignore or destroy the physical evidence so as to secure a conviction, then the question is "WHO IS THE REAL CRIMINAL?"

The New Abolitionist - October 2001, Issue 21
Campaign To End The Death Penalty, Chicago, IL - www.nodeathpenalty.org