Close Jon Burge Colleague to Testify About Chicago Police Abuse -

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Wrongful Conviction Hearing of George Anderson,

Imprisoned 27 Years, to Continue

CHICAGO, IL — In a hearing that has spanned two years, testimony continues with Det. Kenneth Boudreau, following the April 30th testimony of Det. John Halloran and the contentious 2016 testimony of Detective Michael Kill. Like Dets. Kill and Halloran, Boudreau is known for a high rate of overturned cases with repeated allegations of coerced confessions from men who were later exonerated.

The testimony was scheduled for May 14th in Courtroom 301 of the Cook County Courthouse at 2650 S. California Avenue.

George Anderson and Anthony Jakes were both referred for evidentiary hearings on their wrongful conviction claims following rulings by the Illinois Torture Inquiry Relief Commission regarding their coerced false confessions. Anderson’s and Jakes’s hearings were joined so that evidence against the pattern and practice of misconduct by the Burge-era detectives involved in both cases could be presented efficiently. Last hearing, on April 30, the case against Jakes was dismissed and charges against him were dropped, exonerating him completely.

Just hours after the charges were thrown out against Jakes, Det. Halloran took the witness stand at Anderson’s continuing hearing where he repeatedly denied engaging in any misconduct. He denied that he and/or other Area 3 detectives beat suspects — despite Jakes’s and numerous other exonerations and the fact that Burge, who was criminally convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice for denying torture, was in command of Area 3 at the time of Anderson’s interrogation.

Detectives Kill, Halloran, and Boudreau worked directly under the command of Jon Burge. During the course of his interrogation by all three, Anderson was beaten repeatedly, including being kicked on the wrists while he was handcuffed to the wall—the same type of torture that Burge perjured himself for denying.

“Detectives Boudreau and Halloran should be prosecuted criminally for their repeated abuse of so many young men while working alongside Jon Burge,” said Anderson’s attorney, Russell Ainsworth of The Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago.

Fifteen** people have now had their convictions overturned in cases where Boudreau played a critical role in obtaining the evidence used to gain the wrongful conviction. Six of the Boudreau-related convictions were overturned through the work of the Exoneration Project.

** Other Boudreau-related exonerations:

1. Harold Hill;

2. Dan Young;

3. Tyrone Hood

4. Wayne Washington;

5. Michael Saunders;

6. Harold Richardson;

7. Vincent Thames;

8. Terrill Swift;

9. Nevest Coleman;

10. Darryl Fulton;

11. Charles Johnson;