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Public Affairs coverage from our award-winning staff |
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Burge Trial Postponed
Produced by Tony Arnold on Thursday, November 05, 2009
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The trial of a former Chicago police commander accused of torturing suspects and lying about it has been postponed.
Jon Burge's trial was scheduled to begin in January. But he was recently diagnosed with prostate cancer and his attorneys say he has radiation scheduled five days a week at the time of his trial. Federal prosecutors tried to bump up the trial to the end of November, but Judge Joan Lefkow instead postponed it until May 10th.
Burge was arrested a year ago. He worked on Chicago's South Side in the 1980s and early 90s. That's when he allegedly tortured suspects to coerce admissions.
He's accused of perjury for lying about his knowledge of police torture tactics, like sleep deprivation, electrocution and using telephone books or radiators to inflict pain. Some suspects arrested under Burge's watch spent decades behind bars, only to be found innocent later.
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