Deposition will be first for former Mayor in Notorious Police Torture Scandal
A federal judge Wednesday reaffirmed her previous decision, clearing the way for former Mayor Richard M. Daley to be sued as part of an ongoing case brought by a victim of police torture.
Michael Tillman spent 23 years in prison after being tortured by Chicago police detectives working under former Cmdr. Jon Burge. A county judge threw out his original conviction, for rape and murder, in January 2010. Prosecutors declined to file new charges, stating that there wasn’t “one iota” of evidence against him. He received a certificate of innocence the following month.
Daley was the Cook County state’s attorney at the time of Tillman’s arrest and alleged confession. U.S. District Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer’s ruling clears the way for Daley to be deposed for the first time in connection with the notorious torture scandals. The lawsuit alleges that, during his time as mayor, Daley “conspired to suppress evidence of police torture that Plaintiff claims would have been exculpatory.”
In July, Judge Pallymeyer denied a motion to remove Daley from the lawsuit, which also includes former Cmdr. Burge, now in a federal prison. In early October, however, Pallymeyer granted a motion to stay that decision and re-consider. Today’s ruling is a reaffirmation of that original decision.
Michael Tillman, pictured here three months after his release from prison.
The People’s Law Office, which is representing Tillman in the case, will be holding a press conference tomorrow to formally announce the decision.
Michael Tillman was 20, with a 3-year-old daughter and an infant son, when he was brought into the Area 2 police station on Chicago’s South Side for questioning on July 22, 1986. He was released from prison at the age of 43.
