A Test of Judicial Integrity Jaime Kalven 07/13/12 04:05 PM ET A drama is unfolding in Illinois courts that has profound implications for police accountability and governmental transparency. At the center of this drama is Kilroy Watkins, a prisoner serving a 55-year sentence for first-degree murder and armed robbery. A skilled jailhouse lawyer, Watkins has presented the state appellate court with a case that tests not only the meaning of the Freedom of Information Act but also the integrity of the judicial process. Chicago police officers arrested Watkins in 1992 in connection with an armed robbery. The next day he confessed to committing a murder in a separate incident. He has consistently claimed his confession was coerced by Detectives Kenneth Boudreau and John Halloran, associates of disgraced Commander Jon Burge. Under Illinois FOIA, he sought access to the police misconduct complaints against Boudreau and Halloran. Known as complaint register files or CRs, these documents contain the complaints filed against an officer and the substance of the Citys investigation of those allegations. Watkins aim was to demonstrate a pattern of coerced confessions by the two detectives, in support of a post-conviction petition (since denied). In light of what we now know about police torture and coercion by officers under Burges command, this is a plausible argument. A Tribune investigation in 2001 reported that Boudreau had, as of that time, helped secure confessions from more than a dozen defendants in murder cases in which the charges were later dropped or the defendant was acquitted.
Posted on: Tue, 22 Jul 2014 09:06:42 +0000
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