Quinn pardons man wrongfully convicted in 1993 murder

CHICAGO (AP) - A northern Illinois man who spent more than a decade in prison before DNA evidence cleared him in the 1993 murder of his girlfriend was pardoned by Gov. Pat Quinn, a largely symbolic gesture announced Friday along with 231 other granted clemency petitions.

Alan Beaman, of Rockford, was convicted in the strangulation death of Illinois State University student Jennifer Lockmiller and was imprisoned 13 years. He was serving a 50-year sentence when the Illinois Supreme Court reversed his conviction in 2008, and DNA testing pointed to two other suspects. In 2013, a judge granted Beaman a certificate of innocence, which allowed him to seek compensation.

The move by Quinn - the Chicago Democrat's first innocence-based pardon - doesn't offer added financial benefit, but one of Beaman's attorney said it was still important.

"It's a statement by the highest elected official of Illinois that he's actually innocent," said Karen Daniel, who's a director at Northwestern University School of Law's Center on Wrongful Convictions. "After all that he's been through, it is really an important symbolic statement and something that he can carry with him through his life."

Quinn has been working through clemency petitions in his final days in office. He told The Associated Press Friday he plans to act on more Monday, the same day Republican Gov.-elect Bruce Rauner takes office.

On Friday, Quinn's office announced that of 494 petitions, he'd granted 232. Those granted were for crimes including shoplifting, burglary and prostitution. Overall, Quinn has considered more than 4,700 petitions during his governorship, granting 1,752.

Quinn's office didn't comment directly on Friday's clemencies, but the governor told the AP earlier in the day that he carefully considers each request.

"Many of the ones I've granted are people who have made mistakes, paid their debts to society and, in some cases, it was years ago and this sort of mark has followed them throughout the rest of their life," he said. "Part of mercy is you pardon them or give clemency. ... Each case is individual. I do the best I can. "

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