[Ppnews] Hearing for Chicago Torture Victim - Mon 6/15

[Political Prisoner News]

Hearing for Torture Victim -Keith Walker:
Say No to Torture - Pack the Courtroom!
Monday, June 15, 2009 at 9:00a.m
Cook County Courthouse
(26th & California)
Hearing at 9:30 in Judge Claps' Court Room 306

Partial Victory? - After several denied appeals, Keith Walker will 
finally have his day in court to determine whether he voluntarily 
confessed to charges that have kept him in prison since 1994, or if, 
in fact he was tortured by Jon Burge a nd cohorts.



Background - In 1991, Walker was arrested outside a South Side store, 
taken to a police station, and beaten and tortured by Chicago Police 
officers with the same brutal tactics the community now knows were 
routinely used by members of disgraced Chicago police commander Jon 
Burge's midnight crew, which for two decades carried out 
electro-shock, suffocation, severe beatings and mock executions on 
more than 100 African-American me n.



Walker eventually managed to escape, but was arrested again a few 
weeks later. After threats that he'd never see his family again if he 
didn't cooperate and fearing more torture , Keith signed a false 
statement implicating him in a murder and attempted armed 
robbery.  Keith has since spent 15 terrible years in prison, 
sentenced to 'life' behind bars, despite the fact that no physical 
evidence tied him to the crimes. He has maintained his innocence ever 
since and sought appeals several times based on the tortured confession.



Justice Denied - Ironically the first Judge to deny Walker's Post 
Conviction was a former prosecutor who took his coerced statement 
that was used to wrongfully convict him. Despite repeated dismissals 
and attempts to suppress the truth about the electric shock and other 
tactics used against Walker in 1991, he has continued to seek freedom 
and justice. It seemed hopeless, but now that the entire world knows 
the truth about police torture in Chicago, the Illinois Appellate 
Court has granted Keith an opportunity for a hearing on whether his 
statement was voluntary. Judge Claps will decide whether Walker will 
actually have a hearing on the torture issue on Monday June 15, 2009.

Your Help Is Needed! - This is only a start. We will only see justice 
for Keith Walker and all the other African-Americans who were 
tortured when they go free, or win new trials. Come pack the 
courtroom at 9:00am on Monday June 15th to show the judges, 
prosecutors and numerous police lawyers that we will not rest until 
Keith Walker and his fellow torture victims are free!

Sponsored by Black People Against Police Torture and The National 
Conference of Black Lawyers

For more information, call the Law Office of Atty Standish E. Willis 
at 312-554-0005



Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110

415 863-9977

www.Freedomarchives.org  
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