Chicago Poised To Pay $5.25 Million In Police Torture Case
CHICAGO (AP) -- The price tag of a police torture scandal that's already cost Chicago more than $100 million will likely grow after city attorneys recommended paying $5.25 million to a man who alleges he was beaten into confessing to a murder he didn't commit.
The recommendation to settle Alonzo Smith's wrongful conviction lawsuit is expected to be followed by the City Council next week, following a pattern that has seen dozens of men who alleged torture by detectives under the command of former Commander Jon Burge from 1972 to 1991 win jury awards and settlements from the city.
Smith spent about 20 years in prison for a 1983 slaying before his conviction was dismissed.
Burge was convicted in 2011 of lying in a civil case about his actions. He died last year.
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