ADVISORY FOR August 30, 2011 DNA Tests Prove Innocence of 10 Black Men in IL
Terrill Swift, who was coerced into falsely confessing to crime, to speak
Chicago, IL – Civil rights group ColorOfChange.org will on Tuesday deliver more than 66,000 petition signatures to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office. The petition demands that State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez immediately acknowledge the innocence of 10 falsely accused Black men (known as the Cook County 10) and agree to vacate the convictions of 9 who were convicted for crimes they didn’t commit.
Recent DNA testing has proven the innocence of the men, most of whom were forced to confess as teenagers to crimes they didn’t commit. Some of them have been imprisoned for nearly 20 years. Despite overwhelming evidence that has linked the crimes to the real killers, state officials have refused to recognize the innocence of these men.
ColorOfChange.org will be joined Tuesday by the Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, the Innocence Project, the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago, and Terrill Swift. Swift was paroled last year after spending 15 years in an Illinois prison for rape and murder, DNA testing performed during the original investigation indicated his innocence. Attorneys for the men, Joshua Tepfer and Tara Thompson, will also speak at the press event.
“Coercive interrogation practices must come to an end,” said ColorOfChange.org Executive Director Rashad Robinson. “Ensuring the release of these men would not only help correct a gross injustice, but it would also send a message to law enforcement that they can’t get away with forcing teenagers to confess to crimes they didn’t commit. This practice compromises the entire public’s safety.”
Coerced confessions play a part in almost a quarter of all wrongful convictions nationwide. Even the U.S. Supreme Court has recognized that teenagers are particularly susceptible to falsely incriminating themselves during questioning from police and should not be subjected to harsh interrogation tactics.
Swift told Chicago Tribune reporter Steve Mills, “If I was guilty, I would have done my time and tried to proceed with my life. But I can’t continue to walk around like a convicted felon when I didn’t do nothing. So I’m fighting it.”
WHO: Rashad Robinson, Executive Director of ColorofChange.org; Terrill Swift, Wrongfully convicted as a result of a forced confession, spent 15 years in prison; Joshua Tepfer, Visiting Clinical Professor and Staff Attorney, Center on Wrongful Convictions of Youth, Northwestern University School of Law; Tara Thompson, Staff Attorney and Clinical Lecturer in Law, the Exoneration Project, University of Chicago Law School; Chris Ochoa, Attorney who was once wrongfully accused and convicted of murder.
WHERE: George W. Dunne Cook County Office Building, 69 W Washington St, Chicago, IL 60602
WHEN: Tuesday, August 30, 2011, Noon
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With more than 750,000 members, ColorOfChange.org is the nation’s largest African-American online political organization.