Jury selection begins in Ill. police torture trial

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http://www.timesonline.com/bct_news/news_details/article/1373/2010/may/23/jury-selection-begins-in-ill-police-torture-trial.html

Sunday May 23, 2010 02:27 PM

For decades, black men across Chicago described torture at the hands of former police Lt. Jon Burge and his officers, and for decades no one listened. Suspects landed in jail and even on death row for crimes they say they didn't commit after Burge and his men coerced confessions using terrifying methods including suffocation, a form of waterboarding and electric shocks.

Finally those complaints from the 1970s and 80s are being taken seriously _ and it could be Burge's own words that send him to prison.

Jury selection begins Monday in Burge's trial on federal obstruction of justice and perjury charges. He's accused of lying when he denied in a civil lawsuit that he and other detectives had tortured anyone. He faces a maximum of 45 years in prison if convicted of all charges.

Burge has pleaded not guilty to the charges and is free on bond.

[The Magistrate]

1. Looking Forward To This One, Sir

"The mills of God grind slow, but exceedingly fine."