Burge Denies He Tortured Suspects

Former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge leaves the Dirksen Federal Courthouse after he testified in his own defense Thursday June 17, 2010. Jose More/Chicago News Cooperative

Jon Burge left the witness stand in his perjury trial Thursday afternoon after several hours of questioning about acts of torture by his lawyers and federal prosecutors.

On Monday, he will face additional cross-examination by Assistant U.S. Attorney David Weisman, who challenged the former Chicago police commander on his account of what happened to suspects in his custody and the custody of other officers supervised by him in the 1970s and 1980s on Chicago’s South Side.

Burge flatly denied each allegation that suspects were tortured into confessions. He only admitted that he laughed when he heard that Andrew Wilson, who had arrested in the killings of two officers, had been injured in 1982.

Wilson must have suffered the injuries after he left the custody of Burge’s officers, Burge said, and the injuries — a second-degree burn to his thigh and a laceration on the head that required stitches — were only superficial in Burge’s opinion.

Defense attorney Marc Martin rattled off details of allegations brought against Burge over the last month at trial, giving Burge the opportunity to speak on each one in front of the jury. Burge sobbed at one point when asked to speak in detail about the investigation of the cop killings.

Martin asked if Burge ever put a plastic bag over the head of another murder suspect, Anthony Holmes.

“No, sir,” Burge said.

“Did you electroshock Mr. Holmes?” Martin asked.

“No, sir,” Burge replied.

Burge said he never had an occasion to report any allegation of an officer abusing a person’s rights during more than two decades with the police department.

Weisman asked if he never reported such things because officers followed a strict code of silence not to rat each other out.

“I’ve heard of (the code) from a bottom-feeding lawyer,” Burge replied, to some laughter. He said he wasn’t referring to Weisman.

Burge spoke about getting confessions, but said abuse was never used to his knowledge.

Burge said Holmes confessed after Burge showed him the evidence the police department had compiled against him.

“He knew what time it was, counselor,” Burge said.

And Burge didn’t seem to think anything strange about the quick confession two of his detectives got from Andrew Wilson.

“They got Andrew Wilson to confess to capital murder in 20 minutes?” Weisman asked incredulously.

“Yes,” Burge replied.

Following Wilson’s arrest for the high profile killings of two cops, media personnel and top officials at the police department were inside Area 2 police headquarters, where the abuse is alleged to have occurred, Burge said.

“It was pretty chaotic,” Burge said.

Burge said he saw Wilson’s bare chest when he was arrested, and saw no injuries. The only injury he noticed was on Wilson’s face, which Burge said he figured happened when officers threw him on the ground to cuff him. He did not see any trace of the lateral marks later found on his chest. Wilson said he was stretched across a radiator.

Martin asked Burge if he ever stated to Wilson that he was going to “fry his black ass.”

No, Burge replied.

Earlier this week, former Chicago Police Detective Michael McDermott testified he saw a confrontation between Burge and a man named Shadeed Mu’min, who Burge was questioning about a robbery and shooting.

McDermott said he saw Burge point his gun in the direction of the area where Mu’min was and that he saw Burge hold something to Mu’min’s face.

McDermott was an unhappy witness, who said he feared being charged with perjury and obstruction of justice if he did not recall details of the 1985 incident as the prosecution wanted him to.

“I’ve always had a very high opinion of Mike McDermott,” Burge said Thursday. “He appeared to me to be terribly distraught and under immense pressure.”

Mu’min testified that that in 1985 Burge held a revolver to his head and also suffocated him with a typewriter cover, which Burge denied Thursday.

“Did you take your weapon, and point it to the middle of Mr. Mu’min’s forehead?” Martin asked.

“No, sir,” Burge replied.

Burge said the only time he had his gun out was when he took it out of the holster and placed it in his desk.

Burge faces charges of perjury and obstruction of justice, accused of lying about alleged acts of torture in a 2003 civil court proceeding.

On Thursday, Burge distanced himself from two written statements he signed during that case. He said his lawyer came up with the language in which he denied knowing about acts of abuse. He also said he was never under oath in his opinion, because the notary publics who stamped the documents never swore him in.