http://www.suntimes.com/output/news/cst-nws-burge13.htmlNine current and former Chicago Police detectives have invoked their Fifth Amendment rights rather than answer questions about police torture for a pending civil lawsuit.
The detectives -- including former Area 2 Cmdr. Jon Burge -- cited their right to remain silent and avoid self-incrimination in response to 25 written questions posed by attorneys of freed Death Row inmate Aaron Patterson.
Patterson is one of at least six freed inmates who have civil cases pending against the detectives and the City of Chicago, charging he was threatened and tortured into giving a confession. He also accuses the state's attorney's office of covering it up. Patterson's attorney, Flint Taylor, said the detectives were asked about 47 victims of police torture.
Taylor said invoking the Fifth Amendment is significant because the detectives will be stuck with those answers and, unlike in a criminal case, a jury can be instructed to hold their lack of answers against them.
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