Da: "coalit"
A: "amici coalit" ; "lista gaia"
Oggetto: [listacoalit] Fw: Update on Aaron Patterson's Case
Data: sabato 15 dicembre 2001 12.47
> Dear Supporters:
>
> Enclosed is the latest news report on Aaron's case as of Thursday, Dec.
13,
> 2002 court appearance. It was a long day but rewarding, as to some hope
for
> my son. Enclosed is the next day report of the event during that long day
at
> court. I cannot thank the reporter for enduring the stay in order to make
> her report. See below as published in the Chicago Tribune Newspaper.
>
> Death Row inmate clears hurdle in bid for retrial
> >By Kirsten Scharnberg Tribune staff reporter December 14, 2001
> >
> >Aaron Patterson, the Death Row inmate who has long proclaimed his
innocence
> >in a 1986 double slaying, moved one step closer to getting a new trial on
> >Thursday.
> >Judge Michael P. Toomin agreed to hear arguments next week on whether
> >Patterson should be entitled to a new trial. Toomin said he would allow
> >attorneys on both sides to question Patterson's former lawyer on whether
he
> >so badly bungled the case that a new trial should be granted on the
grounds
> >of inadequate legal representation.
> >The Cook County judge asked prosecutors and defense attorneys to be back
in
> >his courtroom Monday morning.
> >Patterson's case, which has gained renown among death penalty critics who
are
> >convinced he was wrongfully convicted, has been fraught with controversy
from
> >the start.
> >
> >The 37-year-old South Side man has said he confessed to the stabbing of a
> >South Side couple only after he was beaten by Chicago police officers,
who
> >also tried to suffocate him.
> >His allegations have gained attention in recent years after city
officials
> >determined Lt. Jon Burge and his police officers in the former Burnside
Area
> >used force to coerce dozens of confessions.
> >Also, Patterson's attorneys have said that evidence that might exonerate
> >their client is missing and that a key witness says she testified only
> >because prosecutors threatened to put her in jail.
> >
> >Patterson's team of lawyers also has argued that their client, a former
> >leader of one of the city's most violent street gangs, received a defense
> >that was sorely lacking.
> >"We made more headway today than we ever have in the past," one of
> >Patterson's attorneys, Tim Lohraff, said Thursday outside the courtroom.
> >The controversial murder case was returned to Toomin's courtroom only
> >recently, when the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in August that two of
> >Patterson's claims--of police torture and of inadequate legal counsel
> >--deserved new hearings. Toomin did not address the issue of torture
> >Thursday, saying instead that he would hear evidence on the
> >inadequate-counsel claim.
> >To bolster their argument that Patterson was shoddily represented in his
1989
> >trial, his attorneys filed an affidavit by his trial lawyer, Brian Dosch.
> >
> >In the six-page document, Dosch acknowledged being "at least the fourth
> >public defender" assigned to the case and to having "numerous other
serious
> >felony cases, including many death penalty cases," assigned to him at the
> >same time. Dosch further stated that he failed to call Patterson to the
stand
> >during the trial even though he had told the jury during opening
statements
> >that Patterson would testify in his own defense.
> >Before Toomin left the bench Thursday, he chastised one of Patterson's
> >attorneys, Standish Willis, for a letter-writing campaign to free
Patterson.
> >The judge took issue with at least five such letters, with Willis' return
> >address, that had arrived at his chambers.
> >
> >Lohraff said that if the new trial is granted, he will request
evidentiary
> >hearings on the police torture that his client has alleged. For now,
getting
> >a new trial on the grounds of inadequate counsel would be enough, he
said.
> >
> >Copyright (c) 2001, Chicago Tribune