Breaking News: Illinois Death Row Cleared
Governor clears Illinois death row
Ryan pardons 4, commutes other sentences before leavingoffice
NBC NEWS AND NEWS SERVICES
CHICAGO, Jan. 11 - Gov. George Ryan, who declared a moratorium on executions three years ago, cleared the state's death row on Saturday, commuting the death sentences of the remaining 156 death-row inmates to life in prison. His sweeping action comes two days before he leaves office and a day after he pardoned four death-penalty inmates who said their confessions were tortured out of them by Chicago police.
"OUR CAPITAL SYSTEM is haunted by the demon of error - error in determining guilt, and error in determining who among the guilty deserves to die," Ryan said Saturday. "Because of all these reasons, today I am commuting the sentences of all death row inmates," he said. All but three of those sentences will go to life in prison without the possibility of parole, governor's spokesman Dennis Culloton said. The three will get shorter sentences and could eventually be released from prison, though none will be out immediately. "He's been talking about this for a few days, and in only a handful of cases was he considering, for a variety of reasons, not to include (them) in the commutations," spokesman Dennis Culloton said. "Ultimately, late yesterday, he came to the decision this was the only thing to do," Culloton said.
The governor sent overnight letters to the families of murder victims warning them of the decision. Ryan chose a speech Saturday at Northwestern University to publicly announce that he was commuting the sentences because journalism students there had investigated Illinois death row cases and helped exonerate some inmates. Vern Fueling, whose son William was shot and killed in 1985, was outraged that the killer, sentenced to death, would now be allowed to live. "My son is in the ground for 17 years and justice is not done," Fueling said. "This is like a mockery."
UNPRECEDENTY CLEMENCY
Other governors have issued similar moratoriums and commutations, but nothing on the scale of what Ryan did. "The only other thing that would match what he's done is in 1972 the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the death penalty and 600 death sentences were reduced to life with that decision," said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center. The most recent blanket clemency came in 1986 when the governor of New Mexico commuted the death sentences of the state's five death row inmates. Maryland Gov. Parris Glendenning, who last year issued a moratorium on executions in his state, has no plans to pardon or commute the sentences of any death row inmate before leaving office Wednesday, spokesman Chuck Porcari said.
'MANIFEST INJUSTICE'
On Friday, he pardoned Aaron Patterson, Madison Hobley, Leroy Orange and Stanley Howard, all of whom had been on death row for at least 12 years. Orange was on death row the longest, more than 17 years. All but Howard, who was convicted of a separate crime, were released Friday. "I have reviewed these cases, and I believe a manifest injustice has occurred," Ryan said. "I have reviewed these cases, and I believe these men are innocent. I still have some faith in the system that eventually these men would have received justice in our courts, but the old adage is true: Justice delayed is justice denied." "We have evidence from four men, who did not know each other, all getting beaten and tortured and convicted on the basis of the confessions they allegedly provide," Ryan said. "They are perfect examples of what is so terribly broken about our system." Ryan spread the blame in his hour-long speech, calling the state's criminal justice system "inaccurate, unjust and unable to separate the innocent from the guilty, and at times very racist."
Jan. 10 - Illinois Gov. George Ryan explains his decision to pardon four death row inmates.
He blamed "rogue cops," zealous prosecutors, incompetent defense lawyers and judges who rule on technicalities rather than on what is right. He also criticized the Legislature for failing to enact his proposals to reform the death penalty system. Ryan announced the pardons in a speech at DePaul University, home to an anti-death penalty center founded by Andrea Lyon, a lawyer who represents Hobley. Sources advising Ryan told NBC News that the governor was up until 1 a.m. making his decision and that calls of support included one from former South African President Nelson Mandela.
SATURDAY SPEECH
The moves cap Ryan's three-year campaign to highlight flaws in the state's capital punishment system. Figures for 2001, the most recent available, show that Illinois ranks eighth in the nation in terms of death-row inmates. Ryan was expected to announce his clemency decision during a speech Saturday at Northwestern University's law school, which has led the attack on the state's capital punishment system. Northwestern journalism students have conducted investigations that freed a handful of inmates. Northwestern professors and lawyers had urged Ryan to issue a blanket clemency. Ryan declared a moratorium on executions after 13 men were freed from death row because new evidence exonerated them or because there were flaws in the way they were convicted. "Bad lawyers, bad prosecutors, bad police, bad judges ...," Ryan told NBC News' Jim Avila. "How can we have a system like that and say it works? It doesn't work."
The most recent precedent for a blanket clemency came 16 years ago when the governor of New Mexico commuted the death sentences of the state's five death row inmates.
FOUR PARDONS
Of the four men pardoned Friday, Patterson said he was tortured into falsely confessing to murder after police threatened him with a gun, beat him and tried to suffocate him in 1986. He previously turned down a deal to admit guilt and drop his claim of police torture in exchange for freedom.
Hobley was convicted of murder and aggravated arson in the deaths of seven people, including those of his wife and infant son. He said he made a false confession after he was beaten and suffocated. Orange was sentenced to die for taking part in the stabbing of his former girlfriend, her 10-year-old son and two other people. The conviction came despite Orange's description of torture and testimony that his half-brother, Leonard Kidd, was the one who stabbed the victims. Kidd, also on death row, claimed that he, too, was tortured into confessing. Howard was convicted of murder, armed robbery and rape, among other crimes. He said that he was innocent but that he confessed after he was handcuffed to a wall ring, beaten and suffocated by police in November 1984.
RYAN'S LEGACY
It remains to be seen whether Ryan will be remembered more for his stand against capital punishment or for a corruption scandal that shattered his career and crippled the state Republican Party he once led.
Chicago: Ryan pardons 4 death row inmates
A criminal trial is expected to get under way next week on federal prosecutor's allegations that Ryan's former chief aide and his campaign committee illegally diverted state resources for campaign purposes. A number of Ryan's close advisers have been indicted, and federal prosecutors have alleged the governor knew of attempts to conceal potential wrongdoing from investigators. Ryan has not been charged.
NBC's Jim Avila and The Associated Press contribut
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