Monday 23 September 2013

Johnny Savory Interview Part I



Johnny Savory has been in prison for more than two-thirds of his life, before he was released on parole in 2006. Since 1998 he is fighting for DNA testing to prove his innocence, though he has completed his murder sentence. The order to test the evidence for DNA was given now, in August 2013. He is still waiting for the result.

Thursday 5 September 2013

New law protecting one's right during interrogation





 Picture from Johnnie Savory


By Dan Hinkel Chicago Tribune reporter 7:39 p.m. CDT, August 26, 2013
Illinois police will have to record more interrogations of criminal suspects under legislation Gov. Pat Quinn signed Monday that aims to prevent false confessions and wrongful convictions.
The law expands on legislation passed in 2003 mandating the recording of homicide interrogations. The new requirements will take effect in phases over the next three years, and by June 2016, police will have to record interrogations of people suspected in any of eight violent felonies, including aggravated criminal sexual assault, aggravated battery with a gun and armed robbery.
Rep. Scott Drury, D-Highwood, had originally proposed earlier this year that police record interrogations in all felonies, a measure some law enforcement authorities, including the Cook County state's attorney's office, opposed.
Advocates of recording and prosecutors praised the narrower measure's passage, saying it would shield police from bogus allegations of coercion while protecting suspects from overly aggressive interrogation methods that have produced false confessions.
"I think (the law) will go a long way toward preventing wrongful convictions," said Thomas Sullivan, a Chicago attorney and recording proponent who helped draft the legislation.
Under the new law, courts will presume inadmissible any statement a suspect in one of the specified felonies makes unless the interrogation is either audio- or video-recorded. The first incremental expansion of felonies that must be recorded will happen next June.
Sen. Kwame Raoul, D-Chicago, led the effort in the Senate to expand recording. He could not be reached for comment.
Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez voiced concern about the financial and logistical implications of the law for large agencies such as the Chicago Police Department. But she said she supported the measure, calling a recorded interrogation "an awesome piece of evidence."
Chicago police spokesman Adam Collins said Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Superintendent Garry McCarthy support expanding recording. But Collins expressed uncertainty about the resources needed to implement a law that comes with no funding attached.
"(Chicago police officials) would hope that the supporters of this important legislation will work with us to secure any needed resources to ensure the expansion is a success," he wrote in an email.
A decade ago, Illinois was the first state to pass a law requiring recorded homicide interrogations, a fix enacted as the state dealt with faulty death penalty cases. Other states soon enacted more sweeping rules, and Illinois' new law will make it the 17th state that — along with the District of Columbia — requires the recording of interrogations for crimes other than homicide, Sullivan said.
Illinois has carved out an unwanted reputation as a leader in wrongful convictions, with the bulk coming from Cook County and surrounding areas. Drury, a former federal prosecutor, represents part of Lake County, where four defendants have been exonerated by DNA since 2010. Three of those suspects confessed after long, aggressive interrogations that were not recorded.
Lake County State's Attorney Mike Nerheim, who took over the office after those cases fell apart, said he supports the new law, though he said he would support an even broader bill that would call for the recording of all interrogations.
"I hope that's where we're headed. I think (that's) where we should go," he said.
dhinkel@tribune.com | Twitter: @dhinkel
Copyright © 2013 Chicago Tribune Company, LLC


  Picture from Johnnie Savory

Monday 2 September 2013

Johnnie Lee Savory is an innocent man



Johnnie Lee Savory is an innocent man who spent nearly 30 years behind bars after being convicted for a double homicide in a case where the evicence was never tested for DNA, even though Savory was one of the first to seek DNA testing under a state law passed in 1998. Finally, an Illinois judge has concluded that the evidence should be tested for DNA. After all, who but an innocent man would fight for over 30 years, even after his release, to get the evidence tested? We are happy to see that he will finally find some measure of justice after all these years! Hopefully the DNA will lead police to the real murderer as well. For more on the story: http://trib.in/1d06Dug
(Photo: Zbigniew Bzdak, Chicago Tribune / August 8, 2013)

Innocence Project of Minnesota