Torture allegations stepped up - Lawyer for 2 alleged victims accuses Daley, Devine of obstructing probe
Torture allegations stepped up - Lawyer for 2 alleged victims accuses Daley, Devine of obstructing probe
By Jeff Coen and Matt O'Connor
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 3, 2006
Continuing his attack on Mayor Richard Daley and Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine, a lawyer for men who say they were tortured by Chicago police more than two decades ago said Wednesday that a recent deposition by Devine is evidence of obstruction of justice.
Flint Taylor released more transcripts of depositions given to the special prosecutors who investigated alleged torture by officers under former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge. Taylor had subpoenaed the documents to support his clients' torture claims in federal court.
In a deposition he gave to special prosecutors, Devine recalled seeing a letter from the superintendent of police at the time, Richard Brzeczek, who asked prosecutors for direction on how to proceed in handling torture allegations by Andrew Wilson, later convicted in the murders of two police officers.
Brzeczek's letter arrived at the state's attorney's office in 1982, when Daley was state's attorney and Devine was his first assistant.
"I don't have a specific date that I became aware, but my general recollection is that relatively soon after it was received, either the state's attorney [Daley] or the chief deputy showed me the letter, and I had an opportunity to look at it," Devine told the special prosecutors on June 15.
"This is the kind of thing that I would certainly not be surprised if the state's attorney just handed it to one of us and said, `What's this all about?'"
Devine's deposition shows that his office thought many of the claims were to be vetted at trial, and he told the special prosecutors the allegations were not shocking in light of the charges against Wilson.
"I mean, there was not a context at that time of, `Gee, there had been 50 charges or 50 claims against this particular officer, so there better be a heads-up,'" he said.
"I didn't know Jon Burge from a load of hay at the time, and I'm sure the state's attorney didn't either."
Devine also told the special prosecutors there was some suspicion about Brzeczek's motives in sending the letter.
In comments after the release of their long-awaited report last month, special prosecutor Edward Egan and his deputy, Robert Boyle, said there was "slippage" in the state's attorney's office in the handling of the torture allegations, but stopped short of criticizing Daley or Devine.
Taylor, who represents alleged torture victims Leroy Orange and Darrell Cannon, said he believes it was much more than that.
"We think that this was evidence of a crime of obstruction of justice by the now-mayor and the now-state's attorney," Taylor said Wednesday. "There would not have been 100 more victims of torture if they had acted then."
John Gorman, spokesman for Devine, said police and prosecutors attempted to gather what they could on the claims in 1982, but neither Wilson nor his lawyer was cooperative.
"Allegations by Taylor that State's Atty. Devine obstructed justice back in 1982 are outrageous and simply untrue," Gorman said.
"Mr. Devine knew of the allegations contained in the Brzeczek letter and that it had been turned over to the state's attorney's office's Special Prosecutions Bureau, which handles claims of police abuse."
Devine also knew the claims were being aired at a pretrial hearing in the Wilson case, Gorman said, and that a judge dismissed the allegations.
"The special prosecutor's report made no finding that Mr. Devine obstructed justice in the Wilson case or any other case," Gorman said.
Daley has denied knowing of tortures, and said he has no memory of reading the Brzeczek letter. He has said he would not have tolerated such police conduct.
In the deposition, Devine said conversations in the office about the Brzeczek letter included suspicions about why it might have been sent, and how unusual it was. Typically the Police Department's Office of Professional Standards would investigate a case and forward it only if the claim had substance, he said.
"So the reaction that I had and a number of other people had was that this is very unusual and questioning why it came over in this format," Devine said. "There was some thinking it was a cover-your-flanks kind of letter on the part of the police superintendent."
The special prosecutor's report said Burge led rogue officers in systematic abuse of suspects for two decades but no charges can now be filed because the statute of limitations has expired.
The prosecutors criticized Brzeczek for shifting blame to Daley instead of conducting his own investigation.
And they lambasted him for not publicly acknowledging until recent years his belief that Wilson had been beaten, well after he had testified in several court proceedings.
In a grand jury appearance last October, Brzeczek said he didn't volunteer his view of Wilson's injuries because he was a defendant in a lawsuit brought by Wilson "and I wasn't about to open myself up to that type of ... damages."
Brzeczek said he asked the Office of Professional Standards to investigate Wilson's claims but otherwise didn't follow through on his letter to Daley.
"I am neither proud nor satisfied of the way that investigation came out," he said in the grand jury appearance.
Since the release of the special prosecutor's report, Brzeczek has complained that he has been made a scapegoat.
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jcoen@tribune.com
mo'connor@tribune.com
By Jeff Coen and Matt O'Connor
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 3, 2006
Continuing his attack on Mayor Richard Daley and Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine, a lawyer for men who say they were tortured by Chicago police more than two decades ago said Wednesday that a recent deposition by Devine is evidence of obstruction of justice.
Flint Taylor released more transcripts of depositions given to the special prosecutors who investigated alleged torture by officers under former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge. Taylor had subpoenaed the documents to support his clients' torture claims in federal court.
In a deposition he gave to special prosecutors, Devine recalled seeing a letter from the superintendent of police at the time, Richard Brzeczek, who asked prosecutors for direction on how to proceed in handling torture allegations by Andrew Wilson, later convicted in the murders of two police officers.
Brzeczek's letter arrived at the state's attorney's office in 1982, when Daley was state's attorney and Devine was his first assistant.
"I don't have a specific date that I became aware, but my general recollection is that relatively soon after it was received, either the state's attorney [Daley] or the chief deputy showed me the letter, and I had an opportunity to look at it," Devine told the special prosecutors on June 15.
"This is the kind of thing that I would certainly not be surprised if the state's attorney just handed it to one of us and said, `What's this all about?'"
Devine's deposition shows that his office thought many of the claims were to be vetted at trial, and he told the special prosecutors the allegations were not shocking in light of the charges against Wilson.
"I mean, there was not a context at that time of, `Gee, there had been 50 charges or 50 claims against this particular officer, so there better be a heads-up,'" he said.
"I didn't know Jon Burge from a load of hay at the time, and I'm sure the state's attorney didn't either."
Devine also told the special prosecutors there was some suspicion about Brzeczek's motives in sending the letter.
In comments after the release of their long-awaited report last month, special prosecutor Edward Egan and his deputy, Robert Boyle, said there was "slippage" in the state's attorney's office in the handling of the torture allegations, but stopped short of criticizing Daley or Devine.
Taylor, who represents alleged torture victims Leroy Orange and Darrell Cannon, said he believes it was much more than that.
"We think that this was evidence of a crime of obstruction of justice by the now-mayor and the now-state's attorney," Taylor said Wednesday. "There would not have been 100 more victims of torture if they had acted then."
John Gorman, spokesman for Devine, said police and prosecutors attempted to gather what they could on the claims in 1982, but neither Wilson nor his lawyer was cooperative.
"Allegations by Taylor that State's Atty. Devine obstructed justice back in 1982 are outrageous and simply untrue," Gorman said.
"Mr. Devine knew of the allegations contained in the Brzeczek letter and that it had been turned over to the state's attorney's office's Special Prosecutions Bureau, which handles claims of police abuse."
Devine also knew the claims were being aired at a pretrial hearing in the Wilson case, Gorman said, and that a judge dismissed the allegations.
"The special prosecutor's report made no finding that Mr. Devine obstructed justice in the Wilson case or any other case," Gorman said.
Daley has denied knowing of tortures, and said he has no memory of reading the Brzeczek letter. He has said he would not have tolerated such police conduct.
In the deposition, Devine said conversations in the office about the Brzeczek letter included suspicions about why it might have been sent, and how unusual it was. Typically the Police Department's Office of Professional Standards would investigate a case and forward it only if the claim had substance, he said.
"So the reaction that I had and a number of other people had was that this is very unusual and questioning why it came over in this format," Devine said. "There was some thinking it was a cover-your-flanks kind of letter on the part of the police superintendent."
The special prosecutor's report said Burge led rogue officers in systematic abuse of suspects for two decades but no charges can now be filed because the statute of limitations has expired.
The prosecutors criticized Brzeczek for shifting blame to Daley instead of conducting his own investigation.
And they lambasted him for not publicly acknowledging until recent years his belief that Wilson had been beaten, well after he had testified in several court proceedings.
In a grand jury appearance last October, Brzeczek said he didn't volunteer his view of Wilson's injuries because he was a defendant in a lawsuit brought by Wilson "and I wasn't about to open myself up to that type of ... damages."
Brzeczek said he asked the Office of Professional Standards to investigate Wilson's claims but otherwise didn't follow through on his letter to Daley.
"I am neither proud nor satisfied of the way that investigation came out," he said in the grand jury appearance.
Since the release of the special prosecutor's report, Brzeczek has complained that he has been made a scapegoat.
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jcoen@tribune.com
mo'connor@tribune.com
posted by Carlos T Mock at 6:19 PM
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