Settlements totaling nearly $34 million have been proposed between the City of Chicago and individuals wrongfully convicted due to the actions of former police officers who once held positions of trust in the community. The City Council Finance Committee is set to review these settlements in three separate lawsuits linked to former officers Jon Burge, Ronald Watts, and Reynaldo Guevara, as reported by CBS News Chicago.
In one lawsuit, Thomas Sierra, who was incarcerated for over two decades for a 1995 murder before being exonerated, has reached an agreement for $17.5 million. Sierra's case was overturned after it emerged that prosecutors could no longer support their original burden of proof, and Guevara, the former detective involved, was found to have lied under oath in other cases. Another case sees Mark Maxson, who spent 24 years in prison for the murder of a young boy, agree to an $8.75 million settlement. Maxson's wrongful conviction stemmed from a coerced confession, believed to be under conditions consistent with torture from detectives under Burge. Later, DNA evidence implicated another man in the crime, leading to Maxson's release.
Mark Maxson's ordeal is particularly harrowing, given the decades he lost behind bars for a crime another man confessed to. According to a statement from Maxson's lawyers obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, "even amidst all of these highly publicized exoneration cases, Mark Maxson’s case is both unique and quite simply, astonishing.” Additionally, Osborne Wade, the actual perpetrator, wrote letters apologizing to the family of the victim and to Maxson.
The final settlement that Council is to consider involves Ben Baker and Clarissa Glenn, who were framed by Watts for not acquiescing to extortion demands. Baker and Glenn were exonerated in 2016 but not before Baker served a decade in prison. The Council's agenda includes a proposed $7.5 million payment to the couple. Watts and his team have been accused of widespread corruption, and more than 200 convictions linked to Watts have subsequently been vacated. Despite the severe allegations and an ultimate conviction related to corruption, Guevara has not faced criminal charges and continues to receive a city pension.
