Professor Andrea Lyon, associate dean for DePaul College of Law's clinical programs, and DePaul Legal Clinic students will represent client Gerald Reed in his upcoming retrial. Reed, one of the victims of torture under Commander Jon Burge, was assigned to a judge at the Leighton Criminal Court Building. He received a life sentence in the 1990s, after a detective working beneath Burge physically coerced Reed into confessing to a double murder.
This second-chance trial is the result of a series of extended investigations by the Illinois Torture Relief and Inquiry Commission on victims of the Burge torture scandal. The commission, specifically designed to process claims related to the Jon Burge scandal, granted a new case to Reed and four other victims.
The Chicago Tribune reported on the announcement yesterday in an article quoting Professor Lyon. In the piece, Lyon offered a note of optimism, reasoning that the commission had already "sorted the wheat from the chaff," therefore making it possible for the court to view Reed's case with a fresh eye.
The four other defendants all allege that they, too, were bullied into confessing to crimes under the Burge regime. Continuation of the high-cost torture commission hinges on the General Assembly's allocation of funds. According to the Chicago Tribune, a queue of 80 additional claims pends further examination.
Comments