Judge: Give inmate new hearing due to cop torture

[NNN0LHI]

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/510336,CST-NWS-torture15.article

August 15, 2007
BY ERIC HERMAN Staff Reporter [e-mail]

In the first example of a Cook County Criminal Court judge acknowledging torture at Area 2 police headquarters, Judge Thomas Sumner granted a man convicted of murder in 1984 a new hearing on whether his confession is admissible.

Sumner's ruling Tuesday raises the possibility that James Andrews, imprisoned since 1983, could get a new trial. The judge noted Andrews' convictions were based almost entirely on his alleged confession, taken at a time of "systematic abuse and torture at Area Two." snip

In July 2006, a special prosecutor found torture had occurred under Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge's command at Area 2.

[Heidi]

1. I might confess to two murders and worry later about the truth

if I were chained to a steel ring attached to a wall, punched in the stomach and hit with a flashlight.

Any confession extracted under such circumstances should be considered highly suspect, in my opinion. :grr:

[gratuitous]

2. Clearly this judge is a terrorist sympathizer

Maybe even in cahoots with the terrorists himself. Has the Bush Justice Department been notified of this out-of-control judge, making hasty and ill-considered rulings about the admissibility of confessions extracted by torture? Gonzo's kind of busy right now, but maybe John Yoo can be dispatched to explain things to this whacko?