Retrial granted man who claimed police coerced him into confessing to murder
A Cook County judge has granted a new trial to a man who claimed he was coerced by Chicago police into confessing to two murders.
Court records show that James Andrews, 45, was arrested by police in April 1983 in connection with a dogfight and questioned by detectives working under former Chicago Police Lt. Jon Burge.
According to his petition for a new trial, Andrews said after 90 minutes of questioning about the dog fight, he was asked if he knew murder victims Floyd Jenkins and Keith Lewis. Andrews says despite denying he knew the victims or anything about their murders, the detectives physically and psychologically abused him.
Andrews claims he was punched, struck with a heavy-duty flashlight and chained him to a wall by detectives. He says after 12 to 18 hours, he signed two written confessions.
According to a previous ruling by Circuit Judge Thomas Sumner, those confessions are the only significant corroborating evidence tying Andrews to the murders. Sumner ruled in August that Andrews' constitutional rights were violated and that his claims of police brutality were worth further review.
Sumner on Monday vacated the 1984 conviction of Andrews and ordered he be retried for the murders of two men whom Andrews was accused of robbing and shooting to death.
Last year, special prosecutors Robert D. Boyle and Edward J. Egan released a 300-page report that found numerous suspects were tortured in the 1970s and 1980s at Burge's Area 2 violent crime unit.
Sumner's order indicates there are other allegations of abuse against the detectives who interrogated Andrews.
Despite his ruling, Sumner ordered Andrews held in lieu of $300,000 bail. Defense lawyers exercised Andrews' right to a speedy trial, requesting the attorney general's office be prepared to go to trial within 120 days.
The attorney general's office handles all Burge post-conviction cases since a judge ruled the Cook County's state's attorney's office had a conflict of interest.