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'A manifest injustice has occurred'Clemency expected for other inmates Saturday
From Jeff Flock
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) – Illinois Gov. George Ryan Friday pardoned four inmates awaiting execution and is expected to commute the sentences of others on death row Saturday. "I believe these men are innocent or I wouldn't have pardoned them," Ryan said in a speech at the DePaul University Law School. "The system has failed for all four men and it has failed for all of the people of this state." Ryan pardoned Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley, Stanley Howard and Leroy Orange -- men who confessed under police torture and were convicted on the basis of those confessions. "Now we can say the number of wrongly convicted men is not 13, but 17," the governor said. "I believe a manifest injustice has occurred," the governor added. Ryan, a Republican, halted executions in Illinois in January of 2000, expressing concern that there may be innocent people on death row. That move came after 13 inmates on Illinois' death row were set free because they were determined to have been wrongly convicted. Ryan has another speech scheduled for Saturday at Northwestern University Law School, which, along with journalism students from the university, has been at the center of the fight to free wrongfully convicted death row inmates. The governor, who leaves office Monday after declining to seek re-election, told CNN he has been reviewing the cases of all 160 inmates on the state's death row, including those who have not sought clemency, and has not yet decided how many sentences he may reduce to life without parole. "I have not settled on a number," he said. "When I leave here, I am going back to work on the list." Ryan: 'There isn't any doubt'
Friday's pardons mean the four men will be released from prison, although it is unclear exactly when. All but Howard, who was convicted of a separate crime, were expected to be released Friday. "My power to grant these pardons is constitutionally provided," Ryan said. "There isn't any doubt in my mind these four men were wrongfully prosecuted, and wrongfully sentenced to die." Patterson and Hobley are now on death row at the Illinois State Correctional Center at Pontiac. Howard is at a state prison in Menard and Orange is at Cook County Jail in Chicago. Orange is in jail rather than prison because of a succession of court dates. "Three years ago, I described it as a shameful scorecard, and that's what it is -- truly shameful; so I did the only thing I could do, I put on a moratorium," Ryan said. "A lot of people called that courageous. ... It wasn't courageous, it was just the right thing to do." According to The Associated Press, Hobley's sister, Robin, burst into tears Friday morning as she read an advance copy of the speech handed out by the governor's aides while she and other guests waited for him to arrive at DePaul. "I've read so many horrible transcripts in the last 15 years, I can't believe what I'm reading," she said. "I'm speechless right now." Ollie Dodds, whose 34-year-old daughter, Johnnie Dodds, died in an apartment fire that Hobley was convicted of setting, said she was saddened by Ryan's decision. "I don't know how he could do it. It's a hurting thing to hear him say something like that," she told the AP, adding that she still believes Hobley is responsible. "He doesn't deserve to be out there." Four inmates were tortured, governor says
The four pardoned men are part of the so-called "Burge 10" death row inmates who say they had confessions tortured out of them by police under the direction of Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. He was fired after internal police investigators found systemic evidence of physical abuse of suspects. The four men "were tortured," the governor said. "There isn't any question about that." He discussed their cases in his speech. • Police said Patterson, 38, confessed to the April 1986 stabbing of an elderly couple in Chicago. Patterson never signed the confession and during his interrogation scrawled, "I lie about murders, police threaten me with violence," into a bench with a paper clip. • Hobley, 42, was convicted of killing seven people in an arson fire in 1987. Private investigators later developed evidence that a metal gas can found at the scene used to connect Hobley to the arson was planted. He long contended he was a torture victim, too. • Orange, 52, was sentenced to die for taking part in the stabbing of his former girlfriend, her 10-year-old son and two others. The conviction came despite Orange's description of torture and testimony that his half brother, Leonard Kidd, was the one who stabbed the victims. Kidd, also on death row, claims he too was tortured into confessing. • Howard, 40, was convicted in a 1987 murder and also contended he had been tortured. They "four men did not know each other," Ryan said, "all getting beaten and tortured and convicted on the same basis of the confessions that they allegedly provided. They are perfect examples of what is so terribly broken about our system." Journalism students began drive to free menRyan ordered a moratorium on executions in his state after 13 death row inmates were exonerated. He then appointed a panel to examine capital punishment, saying he wanted to give Illinois citizens complete confidence that a defendant's guilt was fully established before he was put to death for a crime. The panel concluded last year that the state had applied the punishment too often since it was re-established in the state in 1977. Ryan's speech at Northwestern will be particularly poignant. It was a group of journalism students at that university that began looking into the capital punishment case of Anthony Porter in the late 1990s. The students, working with their professor and a private investigator, found that another witness was pressured by police to testify against Porter. The students then interviewed another man, who confessed on videotape to the double murder that sent Porter to death row. Porter -- who had once come within two days of execution and was spared only because the court wanted to examine his mental competency -- was released in February 1999. He had spent 17 years on death row. The governor then vowed he would do whatever it takes to "prevent another Anthony Porter." It remains to be seen whether Ryan will be remembered more for his stand against capital punishment or for a corruption scandal that shattered his career and crippled the state Republican Party he once led. A criminal trial is expected to get under way next week on federal prosecutor's allegations that Ryan's former chief aide and his campaign committee illegally diverted state resources for campaign purposes. A number of Ryan's close advisers have been indicted, and federal prosecutors have alleged the governor knew of attempts to conceal potential wrongdoing from investigators. Ryan has not been charged. Copyright 2003 CNN. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Associated Press contributed to this report.
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