CHICAGO Gov. George Ryan pardoned four death row inmates Friday afternoon at DePaul University,including one who has been a focus of journalism Prof. David Protess and his students .
The governor pardoned Aaron Patterson whom Protess’ students worked to free for more than two years — as well as Madison Hobley, Stanley Howard and Leroy Orange in a speech at DePaul’s College of Law. Ryansaid the four men originally were convicted based on confessions that had been forced.
“Today I am pardoning them of the crimes for which they were wrongfully prosecuted and sentenced to die,” Ryan told DePaul law students and more than 100 members of the media.
The four pardons bring the tally of exonerated death row inmates in Illinois to 17 — a figure Ryan calledstartling. “I’m not a lawyer, but I can tell you, I don’t think you need to be one to be appalled by thosestatistics,” he said.
The pardons come less than t hree days before Ryan leaves office. They follow several months of clemency hearings for about 160 death row inmates and an independent review of the state’s death penalty that produced 85 recommendations — including videotaping of interrogations. The review was commissioned after Ryan ordered a moratorium on executions in January 2000.
Ryan is expected to announce his decision in the remaining cases at an invitation-only speech Saturdayat Northwestern’s Law School, which is home to the Center on Wrongful Convictions.
When asked by DePaul students and the media about the outcome of the remaining clemency cases, Ryanresponded several times: “Tomorrow is another day.”
Protess, who Ryan singled out several times in his Friday speech for his students’ work in helping to free three other death row inmates, said his “educated guess” was that the governor was saving important news for Saturday.
“My sense is that most of (the clemency cases), if not all , will receive commutations,” Protess said.Three of the pardoned prisoners were freed Friday evening and are expected to attend the gathering onSaturday.
Howard will not be released from prison until he serves out a separate sentence in connectionwith robbery, kidnapping and sexual assault — though Ryan said “the evidence in that case is also verytroubling.”
Protess said he is eager to see Patterson. “It’s going to be a very special moment when I meet him tomorrow for the first time as a free man,” he said.
Patterson was convicted in 1989 with Eric Caine of a 1986 double-murder at a home on Chicago’s South Side. The couple were found stabbed 34 times. Police obtained confessions from Patterson and Caine and twostatements from witnesses that placed the men at the scene.
A jury sentenced Patterson to death and gave Caine life in prison.
Ryan pointed out Friday that Patterson’s confession was dubious. He allegedly was tortured by policeoffic ers at Chicago’s Area 2 Police Headquarters until he gave an oral confession. When he was alone in theinterrogation room, he used a paper clip to scratch words on a bench: “I lie about murders, policethreaten me with violence, slapped and suffocated me with plastic … signed false statement to murders.”
One woman who testified against Patterson later recanted. And last year Protess’ students helpedobtain an affidavit from a man that cast doubt on the other witness’ statement and implicated two other menin the murders. The students have worked to corroborate the affidavit during Fall and Winter quarters.
“There is no physical or forensic evidence which links Patterson to the crimes,” said Ryan, adding that thealleged oral confession is the only piece of evidence that still ties him to the case.
Liz Olsson, who currently is a student in Protess’ investigative journalism class in the Medill School ofJournalism, said she would like to investigate Ca ine’s connection to the case. He still is serving a lifesentence.
Olsson said she looks forward to seeing Patterson on Saturday.
“I’m so excited just to walk up and give him a hug,” said Olsson, a Medill senior. “I’m just overwhelmedright now.”
Ryan was right to step in and pardon the four men Friday instead of allowing the appeals process to dragon, Olsson said.
“When there’s overwhelming evidence that human rights were violated and, basically, that there’s no reason to keep people behind bars when innocent, somebody should step in and do something when the legal system has already failed to do what it’s supposed to do,” she said.
Protess received a letter from Patterson yesterday “saying that he was hopeful the governor would do theright thing — and (asking) would I make just one more phone call” to the governor to reinforce the case.
Now that Patterson is a free man, Protess said, the state legislature’s job is just beginning. It has n otyet voted on any of the recommendations from Ryan’s committee.
“The legislature has yet to take significant action,” he said. “I find that tragic.” U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wis., announced Friday that he would introduce the National Death Penalty Moratorium Act bill, which would halt federal executions and urge states to do the same. The bill also calls for a national commission to investigate the fairness of the death penalty system at the federal and state levels.
