New Trial For Pardoned Convict's Police Torture Lawsuit
CHICAGO (CBS) -- An 80-year old man will get another day in court, as he goes after the City of Chicago because police allegedly beat a rape confession out of him in 1951.
As WBBM Newsradio's Bernie Tafoya reports, Oscar Walden Jr., claims police tortured him into admitting to the rape of a white woman on Nov. 24, 1951, on the city's South Side. Walden is African-American.
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In his criminal trial, Walden said he had to sleep on the floor in the old "death row" in the basement of the Cook County Jail, where an electric chair was once located. He also testified that he had a forced circumcision when he arrived at Stateville Prison to serve his sentence after conviction, according to published reports.
Walden was pardoned by then-Gov. George Ryan 10 years ago.
He lost his first suit $15 million against the city at jury trial last year. But this week, U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo ruled that Walden did not get a fair trial for his lawsuit, the Chicago Tribune reported.
The judge said city attorneys crossed the line in their defense. He agreed with Walden's defense that the city went overboard in trying to win the case at all costs, including giving the jury graphic details of the rape that were not supposed to be admitted as evidence, the Tribune reported.
