E-Notice
2012-L-012995
CALENDAR: A
To: Alexa Anne Van Brunt
[email protected]
NOTICE OF ELECTRONIC FILING
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
SWIFT TERRILL vs. BOUDREAU KENNETH
2012-L-012995
The transmission was received on 09/17/2013 at 4:16 PM and was ACCEPTED with
the Clerk of the Circuit Court of Cook County on 09/17/2013 at 4:17 PM.
AMENDED COMPLAINT
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49
DOROTHY BROWN
CLERK OF THE CIRCUIT COURT
COOK COUNTY
RICHARD J. DALEY CENTER, ROOM 1001
CHICAGO, IL 60602
(312) 603-5031
[email protected]
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CALENDAR: A
PAGE 1 of 48
CIRCUIT COURT OF
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
IN THE CIRCUIT COURT OF COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS
LAW DIVISION
COUNTY DEPARTMENT, LAW DIVISION CLERK DOROTHY BROWN
TERRILL SWIFT,
Plaintiff,
v.
CITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago Police
Detectives KENNETH BOUDREAU,
RICHARD PALADINO, JAMES CASSIDY,
THOMAS COUGHLIN, WILLIAM FOLEY,
F. VALADEZ, and P. MCCAFFERTY, Cook
County Assistant State‟s Attorney TERENCE
JOHNSON, COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS,
and As-yet Unknown City of Chicago
Employees,
Defendants.
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Case No. 2012-L-012995
Judge James N. O‟Hara
JURY TRIAL DEMANDED
FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT
Plaintiff, TERRILL SWIFT, by his undersigned attorneys, complains against Defendants
CITY OF CHICAGO, Chicago Police Detectives KENNETH BOUDREAU, RICHARD
PALADINO, JAMES CASSIDY, THOMAS COUGHLIN, WILLIAM FOLEY, F. VALADEZ,
and P. MCCAFFERTY, former Cook County Assistant State‟s Attorney TERENCE JOHNSON,
and COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, as follows:
INTRODUCTION
1.
Terrill Swift spent 15 years—nearly half of his life—in prison for a crime he did
not commit.
2.
Terrill was arrested at the age of 17, prosecuted, and convicted of the brutal rape
and strangulation-murder of a woman named Nina Glover. The Defendant Police Officers—
Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty—and Defendant
former Assistant State‟s Attorney Johnson claimed that Terrill Swift committed this crime with
four other teenagers, who ranged in age from 15 to 18: Harold Richardson, Vincent Thames,
Michael Saunders, and Jerry Fincher.
3.
Terrill Swift is innocent of this crime, as is each of the other teenagers. Ms.
Glover was actually raped and murdered by a man whom none of the teenagers knew, and who
had a lengthy criminal record of strikingly similar violent assaults: Johnny Douglas, also known
as “Maniac.” Douglas was present at the scene when Ms. Glover‟s body was discovered, and was
one of the first people to be interviewed by responding officers, including Defendant Cassidy.
But the Defendant Officers failed to pursue Douglas as a suspect and he was never brought to
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justice. Douglas went on to commit a number of other violent crimes throughout the Chicago
area, including a string of brutal attacks on and murders of prostitutes in Chicago‟s South Side.
4.
After the Defendant Officers failed to investigate Douglas, the Glover case went
cold. Several months later, under pressure for their failure to close the case, Defendant Officers
Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty arrested each of the
teenagers without probable cause. Acting in conjunction with Defendant Johnson, these officers
coerced and fabricated confessions from the teenagers, and caused them to be prosecuted and
convicted for Glover‟s rape and murder. The sum total of the inculpatory evidence presented
against Terrill Swift at trial was his false confession, which was wholly fabricated by the
Defendants.
5.
While the Defendants‟ coercion and fabrication of false confessions from five
innocent teenagers is appalling, it was no aberration. Members of the Chicago Police
Department, including the Defendant Officers, have repeatedly and maliciously used
unconstitutional means to obtain confessions from juveniles, people with mental illnesses and
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other vulnerable suspects. Between 1991 and 2001, Chicago police obtained confessions in at
least 247 murder cases that were eventually thrown out by courts as tainted or failed to secure a
conviction. Many of these, as detailed below, include instances of Chicago police using physical
and psychological coercion, along with outright fabrication, to secure confessions from children,
teenagers, and people with mental disabilities.
6.
Because Terrill Swift and the other four teenagers were innocent, no genuine
evidence (including any physical evidence) implicated them in the Glover rape/murder. In fact,
DNA analysis conducted on semen collected from Ms. Glover‟s body at autopsy did not match
Terrill or any of the other teenagers.
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7.
Plaintiff Terrill Swift and the other teens were exonerated almost fifteen years
after their convictions, when DNA testing again confirmed that Terrill and the others were
innocent, and that convicted rapist Johnny Douglas—the man Defendant Cassidy and other
police interviewed at the crime scene—had actually raped and murdered Ms. Glover. The State
of Illinois granted Terrill Swift and the other teenagers certificates of innocence on September
14, 2012.
8.
Just 17-years-old when he was arrested, Terrill Swift spent the most formative
years of his life in Illinois‟ most brutal maximum-security prisons. He was robbed of his basic
freedoms and separated from his friends and family, and denied the chance to finish his
education, start a career, fall in love, and marry. Terrill‟s wrongful conviction was caused by the
malicious actions of Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez,
and McCafferty and Defendant former-State‟s Attorney Terence Johnson. Plaintiff Terrill Swift
files this action for malicious prosecution, civil conspiracy, false imprisonment and intentional
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infliction of emotional distress to ensure that the Defendants are held accountable for their
actions, and to seek justice for the years of his life that he lost for a crime he did not commit.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
9.
This Court has jurisdiction as this action is brought to redress the deprivation of
Plaintiff Terrill Swift‟s rights under Illinois state law.
10.
Venue is proper under 735 ILCS 5/2-101. The events giving rise to the claims
asserted herein occurred in Cook County and Defendants City of Chicago and County of Cook
are municipal corporations located in Cook County.
THE PARTIES
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11.
Plaintiff Terrill Swift is 35 years old. At the time of the victim‟s murder, Terrill
lived with his family in the Englewood area of Chicago. He was just 17 years old and planning to
enroll in a college-high school program at Olive-Harvey College in Chicago, Illinois.
12.
At all relevant times, Defendants Kenneth Boudreau, Richard Paladino, James
Cassidy, Thomas Coughlin, William Foley, F. Valadez, and P. McCafferty were detectives with
the Chicago Police Department employed by Defendant City of Chicago and acting within the
scope of their employment. Coughlin and Foley are deceased but Defendant City of Chicago is
liable for their actions pursuant to the doctrine of respondeat superior.
13.
At all relevant times, Defendant Terence Johnson was an Assistant State‟s
Attorney in the Cook County State‟s Attorney‟s Office, serving as the Felony Review Officer on
the Nina Glover murder case. Mr. Johnson was terminated from the Cook County State‟s
Attorney‟s Office prior to the filing of this suit, after he was indicted on a criminal case in Kane
County. Johnson later pled guilty to two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of a minor.
He was disbarred in May 2001.
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14.
Defendant City of Chicago is an Illinois municipal corporation, and is or was the
employer of each of the Defendant Officers. The City of Chicago is responsible for the acts of
the Defendant Officers and all other police officers who are employed by the City of Chicago
and acting within the scope of their employment.
15.
Defendant Cook County is a governmental entity within the State of Illinois,
which consists, in part, of the Cook County State‟s Attorney‟s Office, and was at all relevant
times the employer of Defendant Terence Johnson. Defendant Cook County is a necessary party
to this lawsuit and is liable for any damages and costs assessed against Defendant Johnson.
FACTUAL ALLEGATIONS COMMON TO ALL COUNTS
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Nina Glover is Raped and Murdered by Johnny Douglas
16.
At some time between 11:30 p.m. on November 6, 1994 and the early morning of
November 7th, Johnny Douglas raped and strangled to death Nina Glover, a known prostitute.
The attack took place in the Englewood area of Chicago, near Sherman Park. Douglas then
wrapped Glover‟s nude body in a bed sheet, along with her clothing and shoes, and placed her in
a dumpster behind the Family Super Mart Liquor Store at 1400 W. Garfield Boulevard.
17.
Glover was not Douglas‟ first rape victim. By November 1994, Douglas had
amassed a long criminal history, including 60 Chicago arrests and 27 convictions. His prior
crimes included:
a. On March 5, 1993, over two years before killing Ms. Glover, Douglas paid Debra
Gibson to have sex with him and then assaulted her, hitting her over the head with
a rock.
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b. On May 5, 1993, Douglas attempted to force Brena Hillie to have oral sex with
him. When she tried to escape, he beat her with a stick and cut her with broken
glass.
c. On July 10, 1994, four months before killing Ms. Glover, Douglas met with a
woman named Caprice Bramlett in the exact same neighborhood he would later
attack Glover. Douglas raped Ms. Bramlett twice and choked her. Douglas was
convicted of aggravated sexual assault based on this incident and sentenced to six
months in prison, but he only served half that.
d. On October 21, 1994, shortly after his release from prison and just weeks before
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attacking Ms. Glover, Douglas attempted to rape a woman named Hazel Speight.
Douglas grabbed her and demanded she undress, but another individual
interrupted Douglas before he could complete the rape.
18.
At approximately 7 a.m. on November 7, 1994, Nina Glover‟s body was
discovered by a garbage truck driver in an alley dumpster. An autopsy later revealed her cause of
death to be strangulation.
Initial Police Investigation – Police Fail to Identify Douglas as the Perpetrator
19.
Defendant Cassidy and other Chicago Police Department personnel were assigned
to investigate Nina Glover‟s death. Defendant Cassidy and the other personnel identified three
individuals present at the crime scene (in addition to the garbage truck driver who discovered the
body): an assistant manager for the liquor store, a neighborhood resident who lived around the
corner, and Johnny Douglas.
20.
Defendant Cassidy learned that Douglas lived on Chicago‟s North Side, nearly ten
miles from the crime scene, and that he had no explanation for his presence in the alley on that
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early Monday morning. Douglas told Cassidy that he knew nothing about the crime and that he
did not know Ms. Glover. Douglas‟ statement was a lie. Later DNA testing would prove the
presence of Douglas‟ semen in Ms. Glover‟s vagina.
21.
The information concerning Douglas‟ prior criminal history, detailed above, was
contained in Chicago Police Department databases, and was immediately available to the
investigating officers, including Defendant Cassidy, when the police encountered him at 7 a.m.
on November 7th at the scene of the crime. Subsequently, Defendant Officers Cassidy, Coughlin,
Boudreau, Paladino, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty ignored and suppressed the information
and intentionally failed to pursue Douglas as a suspect.
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22.
After the Defendant Officers failed to pursue Douglas at the time of Ms. Glover‟s
murder, Douglas went on to terrorize many other women in Chicago:
a. On June 17, 1995, a little over 6 months after killing Ms. Glover, Douglas raped
and murdered Elaine Martin and killed her unborn child, while Martin was
engaged in prostitution. As he had done with Ms. Glover, Douglas strangled Ms.
Martin and left her body in a public location.
b. On April 14, 1997, Douglas raped and strangled Gytonne Marsh. Like Ms. Glover
and Ms. Martin, Ms. Marsh‟s body was found discarded in a public location, in a
parking garage. Douglas pled guilty to Ms. Marsh‟s murder many years later: he
admitted to having sex with Ms. Marsh in exchange for cocaine, and strangling
her to death while they had sex.
c. On September 28, 1997, a few months after killing Ms. Marsh, Douglas raped
Catie Oakes in his parents‟ garage; his DNA was later recovered from her
clothing.
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23.
During a subsequent prosecution of Douglas for one of these crimes, the Cook
County State‟s Attorney‟s Office sought to introduce evidence of Douglas‟s modus operandi,
which included physically assaulting and strangling women after exchanging drugs for sex, and
then abandoning their bodies in public locations. The State also pointed out that, when Douglas
was confronted by five separate women with charges that he had beaten and sexual assaulted
them, he admitted to doing so but said that “nobody believed them because were „just whores.‟”
24.
Douglas‟ violence against women finally came to an end in 2008 when he was
killed by Minosa Winters, who claimed she acted in self-defense. During the prosecution of
Winters for Douglas‟ death, the State‟s Attorney‟s Office stipulated to Douglas‟ reputation in the
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community for violence, that Douglas‟ nickname was “Maniac,” and that Douglas was “a major
bully in the area who had violently attacked other people.” Winters was acquitted.
25.
Despite the mountain of evidence against Douglas that had already been amassed
at the time of Glover‟s death, the officers investigating Glover‟s rape/murder, including
Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty, failed to
investigate Douglas for Glover‟s murder.
THE MALICIOUS PROSECUTION OF PLAINTIFF AND THE OTHER TEENAGERS
The Glover Murder Case Goes Cold
26.
Defendant Cassidy found no other leads in the investigation of Glover‟s murder
and ignored the evidence pointing to Douglas as a likely suspect. The case went cold for the next
four months.
27.
The Chicago Police Department keeps track of open homicides and reports a
homicide “clearance” rate to the public. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Chicago‟s homicide
clearance rate was often between 40% and 70%, leading to public concern over hundreds of
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unsolved murder cases. When officers obtained a confession, a case would be considered
“cleared and closed” and counted as solved, improving the city‟s homicide clearance rate. This
was true no matter the reliability of the suspect‟s confession or whether the case ultimately
resulted in conviction.
28.
In the face of a cold murder case with no obvious leads, Defendant Officers
Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty resorted to
manufacturing evidence. As a matter of routine practice, Chicago police canvas the
neighborhood where a crime occurred and press vulnerable individuals for more information, in
an attempt to find an excuse to further interrogate, and then manipulate, coerce, and/or force
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those individuals into confessing. After obtaining the confession, the case would be marked as
“cleared and closed.”
29.
The Defendants applied this strategy in maliciously prosecuting Terrill Swift,
Michael Saunders, Harold Richardson, Vincent Thames, and Jerry Fincher for Nina Glover‟s
rape and murder.
Defendants Take Jerry Fincher into Custody and Coerce His Confession
30.
On the night of March 7, 1995, four months after Nina Glover was murdered, the
Defendant Officers, including Defendant Paladino, who ordered his arrest, took into custody 18year-old Jerry Fincher, who was standing on the street outside his home, a few blocks from the
alley where Ms. Glover‟s body had been found. The officers handcuffed Jerry and took him to
the Area One police station at 51st and Wentworth where they held him in a locked room. The
arresting officers then informed several of the Defendant Officers, including Cassidy, Valadez
and Paladino, that Jerry was awaiting interrogation.
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31.
Jerry Fincher was a teenager who had a severe and obvious learning disability and
could barely read at the time he was taken into custody. Defendants Cassidy, Valadez and
Paladino and others held Jerry in detention at the police station for nearly two days, and denied
his requests to see his mother, who was at the police station. Despite telling Defendants Cassidy,
Valadez and Paladino that he knew nothing about the Glover murder, and despite the fact that
there was no probable cause to detain him, Jerry was locked up, forced to spend two sleepless
nights in interrogation rooms, subjected to unreasonable physical force, and threatened with
additional physical violence.
32.
During the interrogation, Defendant Officers, including Defendants Valadez,
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Cassidy and Paladino, used abusive physical force against Jerry, forcibly grabbing a chain
around his neck and yanking it, pulling his hair, and grabbing him by the chest, and threatening
to inflict further physical harm. These officers also threatened Jerry that if he did not cooperate
they would falsely inform rival gang members that Jerry had told police that the rival gang
members had committed the Glover murder, thereby putting Jerry in danger of being a target of
street gang violence
33.
The Defendant Officers, including Defendants Valadez, Cassidy and Paladino,
described to Jerry a false scenario in which Jerry, along with other neighborhood teenagers, had
taken Ms. Glover to a local basement at approximately 9 p.m. on November 6, 1994, gang raped
her, strangled her, and disposed of her body in the dumpster. The officers, including Defendants
Valadez, Cassidy and Paladino, instructed Jerry to say that he had a minimal role in the murder,
telling him that they knew he had simply stood watch as the other teenagers raped and murdered
Glover, and falsely assured him that because he had a minimal role in the crime, he would face
reduced criminal penalties.
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34.
Defendant Assistant State‟s Attorney Terence Johnson, along with the Defendant
Officers, including Defendants Valadez, Cassidy, Boudreau, Coughlin, and Paladino,
participated in interrogating Jerry Fincher and fabricating his false confession. Defendant
Johnson and Defendants Valadez, Cassidy and Paladino told Jerry that he could go home if he
cooperated by signing a statement, but that if he did not sign the statement he would go to prison
for 60 years. Johnson and the Defendant Officers also refused to let Jerry see his mother, who
was waiting in the lobby of the police station while her son was being interrogated.
35.
Eventually, Jerry acquiesced and adopted the false story fabricated by the officers
and Johnson. This false statement implicated four other neighborhood teenagers in the murder:
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Plaintiff Terrill Swift, Michael Saunders, Vincent Thames and Harold Richardson. Like Jerry,
none of these teenagers was involved in any way in the murder, none had any association with
Johnny Douglas, and none had any nonpublic knowledge about the Glover murder. Indeed, most
of the teenagers barely knew one another, if at all.
36.
As a result of the coercive tactics used by the Defendants, including Valadez,
Cassidy, Paladino, and Johnson, and based on their assurances that he would be released and
allowed to go home if he cooperated, Jerry agreed to sign the statement that Defendant Johnson
had drafted. Jerry never read his alleged confession but merely signed and initialed it, as
instructed by Defendants Johnson, Valadez, Cassidy and Paladino.
37.
Given the circumstances under which Jerry‟s statement was obtained—including
that it was coerced by officers who used physical force, the threat of additional physical force,
the threat of being subjected to street violence from rival gang members, the threat of life
imprisonment, and false promises of leniency; that the statement was fabricated by Defendants
Johnson, Valadez, Cassidy and Paladino; and that Jerry had obvious learning disabilities and
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could hardly read—no reasonable person would have believed that it provided reliable evidence
implicating Jerry or the other teenagers in the Glover murder.
38.
Jerry Fincher‟s statement was eventually suppressed as a product of coercion, and
all charges against him were dropped.
39.
Despite their knowledge that the statement of Jerry was coerced and fabricated,
Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty and
Johnson agreed to use Jerry‟s coerced confession as the basis to arrest and interrogate the other
teenagers that Jerry had named—Plaintiff Terrill Swift, Vincent Thames, Harold Richardson, and
Michael Saunders.
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Defendants Coerce and Fabricate a False Confession from Plaintiff Terrill Swift
40.
In furtherance of an agreement between and among the Defendant Officers and
Defendant Johnson to frame Terrill and the other teenagers for Glover‟s murder, the Defendant
Officers, including Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Valadez, McCafferty and Cassidy, agreed to
bring Terrill Swift to the police station for interrogation. The Defendants agreed that they would
conceal from Terrill their true motivation—to interrogate him about the Glover murder—and
instead would tell him that he was being detained because he was suspected of “hiding someone”
of interest to the police and, consequently, that he needed to go to the police station to look at
some photographs. The purpose of his deception was to mislead his family as to the reason for
Terrill‟s detention, so as to isolate him during his interrogation and deny him assistance from his
family and legal counsel. In accordance with this plan, on March 9, 1995, Defendants Foley and
Coughlin, as well as other officers, went to Terrill‟s father‟s home, misstated their purpose in
talking to Terrill, and thereafter affected Terrill‟s arrest, placing him in a police car and
transporting him to the Area One police station.
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41.
Defendant Paladino and the other officers did not permit Terrill‟s parents and
family members to accompany him to the station. Instead, they deliberately misled his family as
to where Terrill would be taken. Paladino informed Terrill‟s father and uncle that Terrill would
be taken to the police station at 35th and Lowe when, in fact, the officers knew that they were
bringing him to Area One at 51st and Wentworth.
42.
Terrill Swift was only 17 years old at the time of his arrest. Defendant Officers,
including Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Valadez, McCafferty and Cassidy, together with
Defendant Johnson, interrogated Terrill for hours outside the presence of a parent, guardian, or
attorney. Throughout the interrogation, Terrill repeatedly asked the Defendants, including
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Boudreau, Paladino, Valadez, McCafferty, Cassidy and Johnson, for his mother and for a lawyer.
These Defendants refused each of his requests and continued to keep him isolated so that they
could further their plan of coercing a fabricated and inculpatory statement from him.
43.
As they did with Jerry, the Defendant Officers, including Defendants Boudreau,
Paladino, Valadez, McCafferty and Cassidy, agreed to feed Terrill details of the murder and to
repeatedly instruct him to implicate himself and the other teenagers in the crime. In accordance
with this agreement, Defendants Paladino and Johnson made Terrill false promises of leniency,
repeatedly assuring him that if he signed the confession the Defendants had concocted, he would
be free to go home. They also told Terrill that if he did not adopt the Defendants‟ false
confession, he would be put in prison for the rest of his life. As part of this coercion, the
Defendants showed Terrill the statements they had crafted for the other teenagers, which
implicated each of the teens and Terrill in the rape and murder. Although Terrill repeatedly told
these Defendants that he was innocent and knew nothing about the Glover murder, the
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Defendants ignored these protestations and continued to threaten Terrill that if he did not adopt
the statement they had fabricated, he would spend the rest of his life in prison.
44.
As a result of this coercion, Terrill eventually succumbed and gave the false
confession fabricated by the Defendants, implicating himself and each of the other teenagers. All
of the non-public information about the Glover murder in the statement that Terrill signed came
from the Defendants, including Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Valadez, McCafferty and
Cassidy, as well as Defendant Johnson. Terrill did not personally know Nina Glover. And before
his arrest, Terrill had never met Jerry Fincher, and only vaguely knew Michael Saunders and
Vincent Thames.
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45.
Terrill Swift was innocent of raping or killing Ms. Glover and would not have
falsely implicated himself in these crimes if the Defendants had not deprived him of his free will
by the coercion and misconduct described herein.
46.
The Defendants, including Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Valadez, McCafferty
and Cassidy, as well as Johnson, later falsely represented in their written reports, conversations
with trial prosecutors, and testimony before the trial court the circumstances under which
Terrill‟s “confession” was obtained.
47.
After they fabricated Terrill‟s confession, and while Terrill was still in their
custody, the Defendant Officers, including Paladino, Valadez, and Boudreau, took Terrill to the
lagoon in Sherman Park, near the Glover crime scene. At the park, these officers guaranteed
Terrill that if he pointed somewhere toward the lagoon he would be allowed to go home.
Believing their promises, Terrill pointed in the direction of the lagoon. The Defendant Officers
later produced a rusty shovel and a piece of wood, which they reported was recovered from the
bottom of the lagoon. Though there was no physical evidence linking the shovel and wooden
14
handle to Terrill or to the Glover crime scene, and though the lagoon bottom was littered with
other, similar debris and garbage, the Defendant Officers contended that the shovel and wood
handle were used in Nina Glover‟s murder. They also falsely reported that Terrill had told them
where to find the implements. In actuality, Terrill‟s “identification” of the tools was coerced and
concocted by the Defendant Officers, including Defendant Paladino. The trial judge who heard
Terrill‟s case entirely discounted the evidentiary value of these “recovered items,” stating that he
“agree[d] with the defense” that the implements did not inculpate Terrill or the other teenagers.
Defendants Coerce and Fabricate False Confessions from the Other Teenagers
Vincent Thames
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48.
On March 9th, prior to Terrill‟s arrest, Defendants Paladino and Valadez arrested
Vincent Thames at his home and transported him to the police station, where he was handcuffed
to the wall of an interrogation room. Vincent was 18 years old and living with his family at the
time of the murder. He had no experience with police interrogation.
49.
Defendants McCafferty, Cassidy, Coughlin, Valadez, Foley, and Paladino then
proceeded to interrogate Vincent using coercive, abusive and improper interrogation techniques.
Although Vincent told these Defendants that he had nothing to do with the Glover murder, these
officers threatened Vincent that he would get natural life in prison unless he confessed to his
involvement in Ms. Glover‟s murder and agreed to go along with the statement that they had
fabricated. Over the course of several hours, the Defendant Officers also threatened Vincent with
physical violence if he did not cooperate with them, and promised that he could go home
immediately if he agreed to adopt the confession. Frightened by their threats, and believing the
Defendant Officers‟ promises that they would release him if he adopted the Defendants‟
narrative of the crime, Vincent succumbed to their coercion and pressure. On March 9, 1995,
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Vincent gave a false confession, implicating himself, as well as Jerry Fincher, Terrill Swift,
Harold Richardson, and Michael Saunders.
50.
Defendant Johnson took the coerced and fabricated statement from Vincent and
reduced it to writing. The Defendant Officers, including McCafferty, Cassidy, Coughlin,
Valadez, Foley, and Paladino, as well as Defendant Johnson, knew that Vincent‟s statement was
coerced and false and merely a recitation of their fabrications.
51.
Vincent Thames was innocent and had nothing to do with Ms. Glover‟s murder.
He would not have falsely implicated himself but for the Defendants‟ coercion, threats, false
promises and other misconduct, as set forth above.
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Harold Richardson
52.
On the night of March 9, 1995, while Terrill Swift was being interrogated, the
Defendant Officers, including Defendants Coughlin and Paladino, who ordered his arrest, took
16-year-old Harold Richardson into custody as he was walking home from a friend‟s house.
53.
At the police station, Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy,
McCafferty, Valadez, Foley, and Coughlin interrogated Harold outside the presence of a parent,
guardian, or a youth officer. These Defendant Officers told him that they had caught him in front
of “the crime scene”; they then threatened to take Harold to a nearby viaduct and kill him. They
also handcuffed him to the wall of an interrogation room, fed him details of Ms. Glover‟s
murder, and told him that the other teenagers had implicated him. Though Harold repeatedly
denied having any part in the crime, the Defendant Officers continued to pressure him to
implicate himself, offering him false promises of leniency, and assuring him that he would be
released if he provided a statement.
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54.
As a result of hours of coercion, conducted outside the presence of his parents or
an attorney, Harold eventually agreed to falsely confess to the Defendant Officers‟ fabricated
account of the Glover murder.
55.
Defendant Johnson was directly involved in Harold‟s interrogation and he later
falsely claimed in court that Harold had confessed to him. This was a lie. Harold never confessed
to Johnson. Furthermore, Johnson had no notes or memoranda memorializing this purported
confession. ASA Valentini, another Felony Review officer assigned to the Glover case, also
claimed that Harold gave an oral “admission.” Knowing his confession was false, Harold refused
to allow the statement to be reduced to writing.
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56.
The Defendant Officers, including Paladino, Cassidy, and Coughlin, as well as
Defendant Johnson, were all aware that Harold‟s statement was coerced and false and merely a
recitation of their fabrications.
57.
Harold Richardson was innocent and had nothing to do with Ms. Glover‟s murder.
He would not have falsely implicated himself but for the misconduct of Defendants Boudreau,
Paladino, Cassidy, McCafferty, Valadez, Foley, Coughlin, and Johnson.
Michael Saunders
58.
Based on the coerced and fabricated statements of Jerry, Terrill, Vincent and
Harold, the Defendant officers, including Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin,
Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty, as well as Defendant Johnson, agreed to arrest 15-year-old
Michael Saunders. On or around March 10, 1995, Defendant Paladino gave the order for
Michael‟s arrest, and caused him to be picked up on the street, handcuffed, and taken to the
police station. Once Michael was at the police station, the Defendant Officers, including
17
Defendants Paladino and Foley, interrogated him for hours, outside the presence of his parents or
a lawyer and without advising him of his rights.
59.
Even though Michael asked to speak to his mother and a lawyer, Defendants
Paladino and Foley refused his requests.
60.
Defendants Paladino and Foley used coercion and threats—both physical and
verbal—to force Michael to implicate himself and the other teenagers in the story the Defendant
Officers had fabricated. These threats included pulling out Michael‟s earring, slapping him, and
telling him that if he did not confess, the officers would take him to the railroad tracks and shoot
him. Paladino and Foley also threatened Michael that he would go away for the rest of his life if
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he did not cooperate; they also stated that he could go home immediately if he agreed to the
statement the police had fabricated.
61.
The Defendants, including Defendants Paladino and Foley, showed Michael the
statements they had crafted for the other four teenagers, implicating themselves and Michael in
the rape and murder. They also showed Michael photos of the victim‟s body, including close-ups
of her injuries, as well as photos of her clothes found in the dumpster.
62.
Despite this pressure from law enforcement, Michael did not initially agree to
confess. However, after hours of coercive threats, he eventually signed a statement falsely
implicating himself, Vincent Thames, Jerry Fincher, Terrill Swift, and Harold Richardson in
Nina Glover‟s rape and murder.
63.
Every detail about the Glover murder contained in the “confession” attributed to
Michael —both true details, including the types of injuries Ms. Glover suffered and the manner
of her death, as well as the false details of the Defendants‟ gang-rape story—was fed to Michael
by the Defendants, including Defendants Paladino and Foley.
18
64.
Each of the Defendant Officers, including Defendants Boudreau, Paladino,
Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty, as well as Defendant Johnson, knew that
Michael‟s statement was coerced and false and merely a recitation of their fabrications.
65.
Michael Saunders was innocent and had nothing to do with Ms. Glover‟s murder.
He would not have falsely implicated himself but for the Defendant Officers‟ misconduct.
ASA Johnson Was Personally Involved in Coercing and Fabricating
Plaintiff’s and the Other Teenagers’ False Confessions
66.
Defendant Johnson was an active participant in Terrill Swift‟s interrogation and
the interrogation of the other teenagers. He played a pivotal role in coercing Terrill‟s confession
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by convincing Terrill that, as a fellow African-American, he could be trusted, and that Terrill
would be free to go home if he went along with the Defendant Officers‟ fabricated story.
67.
Johnson not only took Terrill‟s confession, but the confessions of Jerry Fincher
and Vincent Thames. He also interrogated and coerced Harold Richardson and later
misrepresented to the court that Harold had “confessed” to him, when in fact he had not. Johnson
aided Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty in
fabricating confessions that “matched” one another, so that the teenagers‟ false statements would
be more believable to the criminal courts.
68.
Defendant Johnson, as an officer of the court and the Felony Review Officer
assigned to the Glover homicide case, had a duty to independently evaluate the evidence against
Terrill and the other teenagers and decide whether charges against them were warranted. Johnson
was also in the interrogation rooms with Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin,
Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty when they were interrogating Jerry, Terrill and Vincent. It was
Johnson‟s responsibility to intervene and stop the officers from manipulating the teenagers and
coercing their false confessions. Instead, Defendant Johnson abused his position of authority by
19
himself fabricating false statements from the teenagers, without regard to their guilt or
innocence, and assisting all of the Defendant Officers in attempting to make the statements
“match.”
69.
Johnson knew that each of the teenagers‟ statements was coerced and untrue.
Nonetheless, Defendant Johnson concealed from the criminal court, Terrill‟s defense counsel,
and prosecutors the fact that Terrill‟s confession and the confessions of the other teenagers were
the unreliable products of coercion and fabrication. He maintained his silence throughout
Terrill‟s trial, conviction, years of wrongful incarceration and while Terrill was on parole and
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forced to register as a sex offender.
The Teenagers are Charged with First-Degree Murder as a Result of the Defendants’
Coercion, Fabrication of Evidence, and Concealment of Exculpatory Evidence
70.
As a result of their improper and undue pressure, Defendants Boudreau, Paladino,
Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty, working with each other and with
Defendant Johnson, ultimately obtained false confessions to the Glover rape and murder from
each of the five teenagers.
71.
As a result of the coercion and fabrication of the statements by Defendants
Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty, working with each
other and with Defendant Johnson, each of the teenagers, including Terrill, was charged with
first-degree murder and aggravated sexual assault.
72.
Given the circumstances under which the teenagers‟ statements were obtained, all
of the Defendants, including Defendant Johnson, knew that those statements were not reliable
evidence, but were instead the result of improper pressure, undue coercion, and fabrication.
73.
Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and
McCafferty, working with each other and with Defendant Johnson, secured the false confessions
20
of Jerry, Vincent, Harold, and Michael by employing a variety of unlawful means, including
deceit, intimidation, threats of physical violence (both explicit and implicit), threats of false
imprisonment, prolonged isolation from family and friends, and outright physical abuse, all of
which were never disclosed to Terrill or his defense counsel. The Defendants also failed to
document any of the teenagers‟ truthful exculpatory statements, and suppressed the fact that the
teenagers ever made these statements, including by committing perjury at the teenagers‟ trials.
The abhorrent misconduct that occurred in the interrogation rooms at Area One was concealed
from the justice system for the next 15 years.
Forensic Evidence Excluded Terrill Swift and the Others Teenagers
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74.
No physical or forensic evidence ever linked Terrill Swift or any of his co-
defendants to the crime. In fact, the physical evidence excluded the teenagers.
75.
Despite the teenagers “confessions” claiming that each had had intercourse with
the victim, reports from forensic labs produced prior to the time of the teenagers‟ trials revealed
that the semen found on Nina Glover‟s vaginal swab could not have originated from Terrill or
any of his co-defendants. Instead, DNA testing revealed a “single source” of DNA that did not
match any of the teenage boys who were forced to confess to both Nina Glover‟s rape and her
murder.
76.
Although Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez,
McCafferty and Johnson were aware of this evidence, they continued to misrepresent the
circumstances under which they had obtained the statements from all five teenagers, concealing
the coercion they had used, and the fact that the information in the confessions had been fed to
the teenagers by the Defendants. Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin,
Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty also continued to ignore other leads—in particular Johnny
21
Douglas, a man with a lengthy and violent criminal past who was present at the crime scene
when Nina Glover‟s body was discovered and who failed to provide Defendant Cassidy with an
explanation for his presence.
Terrill Swift’s Wrongful Conviction
77.
In April and May 1998, Terrill Swift stood trial for the rape and murder of Nina
Glover.
78.
The prosecutors relied nearly exclusively on Terrill‟s false and coerced confession
because no physical evidence ever linked Terrill to the crime, and in fact, DNA testing
affirmatively excluded him as the perpetrator.
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79.
As a proximate result of the above-described misconduct on the part of the
Defendants, Terrill Swift was convicted in a bench trial before Judge Sumner. In explaining his
ruling, Judge Sumner acknowledged that the entirety of the State‟s case rested on Terrill‟s
confession:
[T]his case is relatively simple. It‟s all a confession. The State‟s case is a confession.
Without the confession, there is no case. Counsel for the defense is correct that there is no
physical evidence whatsoever that links the defendant to the case. There is no other
testimony that links him to the case. It‟s the confession.
Judge Sumner made similar statements in Terrill‟s co-defendants‟ trials, stating that “the whole
question [of their guilt] comes down to the statement[s].”
80.
When he found Terrill guilty, Judge Sumner did not know that Terrill‟s
confession had been coerced by Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy and Valadez,
and Defendant Johnson, working together with Defendants Coughlin, Foley, and McCafferty.
Defendants Paladino and Johnson, who testified at Terrill‟s trial, committed perjury by
concealing the fact they had fabricated Terrill‟s confession. As part of the conspiracy to
maliciously prosecute Terrill and his co-defendants, as described further below, each of these
22
Defendants took concerted steps to conceal the fact that Terrill‟s confession was the false
product of fabrication and coercion by the police and Defendant Johnson.
81.
Because the Defendants concealed from the judge, the trial prosecutors, and
Terrill Swift and his attorney that they had fabricated the confessions of Vincent, Harold, and
Michael, Terrill was unable to call his co-defendants as witnesses. The teenagers could not
testify that their own confessions, which alleged participation by Terrill, were false because
doing so would implicate their constitutional right against self-incrimination. This right was only
at issue because the Defendants had coerced the teenagers into falsely confessing.
82.
On June 2, 1998, Terrill Swift was sentenced to 36 years in prison. But for the
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misconduct of Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, McCafferty
and Johnson, Terrill would have been neither prosecuted nor convicted.
The Other Teenagers’ Wrongful Convictions
83.
On the sole basis of their confessions, Harold Richardson and Michael Saunders
were also convicted after bench trials. Both were sentenced to 40 years in prison. In light of the
outcomes of his co-defendants‟ trials, which preceded his own, Vincent Thames pled guilty and
was sentenced to 30 years in prison.
84.
Jerry Fincher‟s “confession” was deemed to be illegally obtained and was
suppressed following a hearing. Without any other evidence to convict him, the prosecutors
dropped all charges against Jerry. He was released in 1998 after spending 3 ½ years in jail.
CONSPIRACY BETWEEN AND AMONG THE DEFENDANTS TO MALICIOUSLY
PROSECUTE PLAINTIFF AND THE OTHER TEENAGERS
85.
The arrests, prosecutions and convictions of Terrill Swift and his co-defendants
were the result of a conspiracy and joint action by Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino,
Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, McCafferty and Defendant Johnson to maliciously prosecute
23
Terrill, Jerry Fincher, Vincent Thames, Harold Richardson, and Michael Saunders for the murder
of Nina Glover, without regard to their guilt or innocence of that crime, and for the purpose of
closing and clearing an open murder case. The Defendant Officers and Defendant Johnson
entered into this unlawful agreement in early March 1995 after the investigation into the Glover
case had gone cold.
86.
In furtherance of this conspiracy, the Defendant Officers worked in concert with
one another and with Defendant Johnson to commit a host of unlawful “overt acts,” which
included:

Suppressing evidence inculpating Johnny Douglas in the crime and intentionally
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failing to investigate him as a potential suspect;

Arresting Jerry Fincher, Terrill Swift, Vincent Thames, Harold Richardson, and
Michael Saunders without probable cause to believe they had committed Nina
Glover‟s murder and for the purpose of “clearing and closing” the Glover murder
investigation;

Coercing and fabricating statements from Jerry, Vincent, Terrill, Harold, and Michael
that falsely implicated each of the teenagers in Glover‟s death, using isolation tactics,
threats of physical violence, physical and emotional abuse, undue pressure, and false
promises of leniency;

Engaging in investigative meetings with one another while the teenagers were in
police custody and being subject to interrogation, during which the Defendants
conferred as to the teenagers “confessions” and ensured that the statements coerced
from each of the teenagers were sufficiently similar;
24

Fabricating false police and arrest reports, and concealing evidence of the coercion
used to obtain the teenagers‟ statements;

Continuing to conceal evidence of their misconduct, even when DNA results released
prior to the teenagers‟ criminal trials proved definitively that the teens were not the
perpetrators;

Providing false testimony during the teenagers‟ hearings on their motions to suppress
and at trial;

Continuing the concealment and suppression of their misconduct throughout the
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teenagers‟ appeals and post-conviction proceedings, and thus allowing them to
remain in prison for almost fifteen years.
87.
So that the false confessions would appear reliable to the trial prosecutors and the
courts, Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez and
McCafferty, working together and with Defendant Johnson, concocted and fabricated a shared
“confession” that they then coerced from each teenager and which included true details of the
Glover murder, including the fact that Ms. Glover was strangled to death; that she was a known
drug user and prostitute; that she was naked when her body was found; that there was evidence
of sexual assault; that she had lacerations and bruises on her face, suggesting that she had been
hit with a sharp object and physically assaulted; and that she was found in a dumpster, wrapped
in a white sheet with gold flowers. Each of the teenagers included those details in their false
“confessions.” The first coerced and fabricated confessions taken in the case—those of Jerry and
Vincent—were subsequently used to arrest, interrogate and coerce Terrill, Harold, and Michael.
88.
Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez,
McCafferty and Defendant Johnson shared information with each other while interrogating the
25
teenagers, in order to ensure that each “confession” matched the others in key respects. The
teenagers‟ interrogations took place over a two-day period and were often overlapping;
consequently, each of the Defendants had a role in interrogating and coercing one or more of the
teenagers. Alongside the Defendant Officers, Defendant Johnson interrogated and took
statements from at least three of the teenagers—Jerry Fincher, Vincent Thames, and Plaintiff
Terrill Swift.
89.
As a result of these tactics, Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin,
Foley, Valadez, McCafferty and Johnson ultimately obtained statements from each of the five
teenagers, and which contained the same basic story: The five were standing on a street corner
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and saw Nina Glover across the street. They called Ms. Glover over and led her to the nearby
basement of Vincent Thames‟s house. There, they each raped her while the others held her down.
They assaulted her with their fists, hit her head with a shovel, and ultimately choked and killed
her. They wrapped the body in a sheet, and carried her through an alley to the dumpster where
her body was found the next day.
90.
These confessions were total fabrications crafted by Defendant Officers
Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty and by Defendant
Johnson. None of the teens had lured Ms. Glover to Vincent‟s basement, none had raped her,
none had assaulted her, none had hit her with a shovel, none had choked her, and none had
disposed of her body in a dumpster down the street. There was not a trace of physical evidence in
Vincent Thames‟s basement or on any of the teenagers‟ clothing that connected them to the brutal
rape and murder. Instead, Ms. Glover was one of the many victims of Johnny Douglas, the
“Maniac,” who acted alone and had no connection to any of the five Englewood teens.
26
91.
In furtherance of their agreement to maliciously prosecute the teenagers,
Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, and McCafferty and
Defendant Johnson concealed the coercion and fabrication they used to extract the false
statements. They misrepresented the circumstances under which they had obtained statements
from the teenagers in their written police reports, in pretrial communications with the Assistant
State‟s Attorneys assigned to prosecute the case, and in their testimony before the Court. The
Defendants also falsely represented to the prosecutors and to the Court that the details in the
confessions, including nonpublic details of the crime, originated with the five teenagers when, in
fact, those details had been supplied by the Defendants.
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92.
The Defendants‟ conspiracy continued throughout the teenagers‟ prosecutions,
convictions, and years of wrongful incarceration, as the Defendants continued to conceal their
illegal actions from the light of the justice system. At no point in time did the Defendants reveal
to the courts or to the teenagers‟ appellate or post-conviction counsel the fact that each of the
teenagers‟ confessions was the product of coercion and fabrication.
ADDITIONAL EVIDENCE OF POLICE MALICE
Defendants’ History of Coercing False
Confessions and Securing Wrongful Convictions
93.
The Defendant Officers‟ misconduct in this case was not an isolated accident or
mistake. Instead, the coercion, fabrication and false charges in this case were part of a pattern on
the part of the Defendant Officers and the Chicago Police Department to railroad innocent
African American citizens for crimes they did not commit. The Chicago Police Department has
repeatedly used similar tactics to secure false confessions, often from vulnerable groups such as
juveniles and persons with mental limitations, in order to close murder and other serious cases.
27
94.
At the time of the events leading to Terrill‟s coerced confession and wrongful
conviction, members of the Chicago Police Department systematically instituted the false
prosecution of teenagers and other vulnerable individuals by using abusive and coercive
interrogation tactics to force them to confess to crimes they did not commit. Members of the
Chicago Police Department exploit the fact that youth are inherently more suggestible than
adults, are vulnerable to manipulation, and frequently lack the ability to fully understand—let
alone assert—their rights during an interrogation.
95.
To secure false confessions, Chicago Police Detectives routinely used the same
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tactics that the Defendants employed against Terrill and the other teenagers in this case. These
tactics include: (a) physical violence; (b) psychological intimidation and manipulation; (c) the
use of clearly unreliable or coerced informants; (d) the fabrication of confessions; (e) the
misleading of parents and denial of parents‟ access to their children during interrogations; (f) the
denial of access to counsel; (g) the concealment of exculpatory information; (h) false promises
of leniency in exchange for “cooperation” in the form of a confession; and (i) the use of other
unlawful tactics to secure the arrest, prosecution, and conviction of persons, including teenagers,
without regard to their actual guilt or innocence.
96.
There are numerous examples of Chicago Police Officers coercing or fabricating
false confessions from juveniles and/or persons with mental limitations during the same time
period as the events underlying this case, and which resulted in other wrongful prosecutions and
convictions. As the Defendants did in this case, Chicago Police Department officers would
often obtain multiple, interlocking confessions from several individuals in order to better
corroborate each confession in the absence of other inculpatory evidence. For example:
28
a. In 1987, the Chicago Police coerced a false murder confession from 17-year-old
Marcellus Bradford and Calvin Ollins, a 14-year-old with mild retardation. Police
kept Bradford in custody overnight and abused him repeatedly, by punching him,
slapping him, pouring dirty water over his head, denying him the use of the
restroom, and hitting him with a book, until he agreed to read aloud a provided
statement that falsely implicated himself and two others. Police then used the
same coercive tactics with Calvin Ollins, threatening him with physical violence
and feeding him false information until he recited a written statement provided by
police that implicated himself, Bradford, and two other teens, in the murder. All
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four teenagers were wrongfully convicted but were ultimately proven innocent and
exonerated by DNA testing.
b. In 1991, Chicago Police Detectives, including Defendant Boudreau, coerced
confessions to a murder from six separate teenagers, including 13-year-old
Marcus Wiggins. Boudreau forced Wiggins to sign a confession by beating him
and torturing him with electric shock. Police also denied Wiggins‟ mother access
to her son. The court later threw out Wiggin‟s false confession and all charges
against Wiggins were dropped. The court also threw out the confession of one of
the other six teens, and the remaining four were acquitted.
c. In 1992, Chicago Police Detectives, including Defendant Boudreau, coerced 18year-old Harold Hill to implicate himself and two other men—Dan Young and
Peter Williams—in a rape and murder. Boudreau and his then-partner, Halloran,
also coerced Young, an illiterate 30-year-old with an IQ of 56, and 19-year-old
Williams to implicate themselves in the crime. During the interrogation,
29
Boudreau and Halloran handcuffed Williams to a radiator for hours, denied him
access to the bathroom, beat him, and stuck a pistol in his mouth. The case against
Williams was later dismissed when it was established that he was in jail at the
time of the murder. Hill and Young were wrongly convicted, but ultimately
exonerated by DNA evidence. Hill settled a civil rights suit with the City of
Chicago for $1.25 million. The City paid $700,000 to the Estate of Dan Young.
97.
There are also many other examples of similar misconduct by the Defendant
Officers. For instance:
a. In 1987, Defendant Foley, who was involved in Michael Saunders‟
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interrogation, worked with other Chicago detectives to force Frank Bounds
to falsely confess to murder. The detectives hit Bounds on the head,
attempted to kick him in the groin, and threatened to implicate Bounds‟
girlfriend in the murder if he did not confess.
b. In 1992, Defendants Boudreau and Foley coerced Arnold Day to confess to a
murder by isolating him in an interrogation room for hours, choking him, and
threatening to throw him out of a window.
c. Also in 1992, over a period of 37 hours, Defendants Boudreau and Foley
physically assaulted Clayborn Smith, by, inter alia, grabbing Smith‟s neck,
pulling his hair and finger back, and kicking him while he was handcuffed to
a wall in the interrogation room, until he confessed to a murder he did not
commit.
d. In 1994, Defendants Boudreau and Foley, along with other Chicago
detectives, beat 17-year-old Sean Tyler, as well as Michael Taylor, Reginald
30
Henderson, and Antoine Ward, into falsely confessing to murder. The
detectives beat, kicked and punched Tyler until Tyler vomited blood. They
dropped Taylor to the floor, kicked him in the groin and punched his head.
They also slapped, choked and interrogated Henderson for over 30 hours.
And they held Ward for over 48 hours and refused to let him use the
restroom, forcing him to urinate in a desk.
e. In 1994, Defendant Cassidy forced an 11-year-old boy, known as A.M., to
confess to murdering an 83-year-old woman. The boy was unlawfully
detained in the police station and interrogated outside the presence of his
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parents or a youth officer. Although A.M. was wrongly convicted on the
basis of this confession, that adjudication was later reversed in habeas
proceedings, based on a finding that his confession had been coerced.
f. In 1997, Chicago Police, including Defendant Cassidy, forced 13-year- old
Jimie Haynes to confess to murder after Haynes was held in the police
station for more than 14 hours without a guardian or youth officer.
Prosecutors eventually dropped the charges after the confession was
suppressed.
g. In 1998, Chicago Police, including Defendant Cassidy, forced two young
boys, aged 7 and 8, to falsely confess to the murder of 11-year-old Ryan
Harris. Later, the two boys were exonerated when forensic testing revealed
that a 30-year-old man, Floyd Durr, who left semen on the victim‟s
underwear, was the true perpetrator.
31
h. In November 1998, Chicago Police, including Defendant Cassidy, coerced
Steven Hudson into falsely confessing to a murder, by beating him, shocking
him, and threatening to arrest his girlfriend and take his son away if he did
not confess. The statement was eventually suppressed and, because no other
evidence implicated Hudson in the murder, the charges were dismissed.
i. In 1997, Chicago Police, including Defendant Coughlin, obtained a false
confession from Robert Wilson for the attempted murder of a woman.
Wilson was held in police custody for an extended period of time, physically
abused, denied sleep, food and medication, and promised leniency if he
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confessed. Wilson was convicted, but later released in habeas proceedings.
He settled a civil rights suit with the City of Chicago for $3.6 million.
j. In March 1997, Chicago Police, including Defendant Coughlin, coerced a
false murder confession from 15-year-old Eric Kittler. Kittler was held for 12
hours, deprived of food and sleep, threatened with physical harm, and told he
could go home once he confessed. His mother was not allowed into the
interrogation room until he was about to sign the statement. Kittler was later
acquitted in a retrial and settled a civil rights suit for $2 million.
k. In 1991, Chicago Police, including Defendant Boudreau, interrogated 15year-old Johnny Plummer for 36 hours, hit him in the face, stomach and side
with a flashlight, and denied him any food, until he falsely confessed to
murder.
l. In December 1993, Chicago Police, including Defendant Boudreau, “solved”
two separate murders with confessions from two mentally retarded juveniles,
32
Fred Ewing and Darnell Stokes, classmates in special-education courses.
One expert concluded that Ewing “was unable to comprehend the substance
of the confession which he allegedly made.” Absent any actual evidence
connecting them to the crime, both men were acquitted.
m. In 1993, Defendant Boudreau and another Chicago Police detective beat 16year-old Tyrone Reyna into confessing to a murder he did not commit. The
officers subsequently arrested two others, Nicholas Escamilla and Miguel
Morales, for the crime. Boudreau forced Escamilla to falsely confess to the
murder by, among other means, threatening to send his pregnant wife to jail.
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n. Also in the early 1990s, Chicago Police, including Defendant Boudreau,
obtained a murder confession from Alfonzia Neal, testifying that Neal
waived his rights and signed a statement handwritten by a prosecutor.
Experts established that Neal had an IQ in the 40s, which would render him
“mentally retarded” pursuant to psychiatric diagnostic criteria, and that he was
incapable of intelligently waiving his Miranda rights. Neal was acquitted of
the crime.
o. In 1995, Chicago Police, including Defendant Boudreau, coerced Derrick
Flewellen into signing a confession by interrogating him for more than 36
hours, during which time Boudreau and another detective slapped, kicked,
punched, and slammed Flewellen into the wall. After spending almost five
years in prison, Flewellen was acquitted of the two murders when DNA
testing proved the crime was committed by someone else.
33
98.
In addition to the above examples of wrongful convictions, there are numerous
other cases during the same time period as the Glover investigation in which Chicago Police
officers used coercive techniques to secure tainted and suspect confessions, including:
a. In January 1993, Chicago Police coerced a false confession from Lafonso Rollins,
a 17-year-old special education student, to a series of robberies and sexual assaults
of four elderly women. Police held Rollins for 13 hours, during which time he was
beaten and told he could go home if he signed a prepared false confession. Rollins
was convicted primarily on the basis of his confession. He was exonerated by
DNA testing in 2004.
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b. In 1994, Chicago Police forced a 15-year-old with a severe learning disability,
Leonard Thomas Stafford, to confess to the murder of another teenager. Stafford
was questioned outside the presence of a parent or guardian. The Illinois Appellate
Court reversed his murder conviction.
c. In 1995, Chicago Police coerced a murder confession from 17-year-old Rashon
Harris. Harris was handcuffed to the wall, denied food and drink, and told that if
he signed the confession he would be released. He was later acquitted by a jury.
d. In 1996, the Chicago Police beat 17-year-old Mario Hayes into signing a false
murder confession. Hayes was later acquitted because it was factually impossible
for him to have committed the murder since he was in jail at the time the murder
occurred.
e. In 1996, Chicago Police coerced a murder confession from 14-year-old Ezekiel
McDaniel, after arresting him in the middle of the night. McDaniel was questioned
outside the presence of a parent, was slapped, threatened with a gun, and told he
34
would not be allowed to leave without signing a prepared handwritten confession.
In 2001, the Illinois Appellate Court held that his statement was involuntary and
should have been suppressed.
f. In 1997, Chicago Police coerced Don Olmetti, a borderline mentally retarded 16year-old, into signing a written confession to the robbery and murder of a school
teacher. Police held Olmetti for 18 hours, during which time he was beaten. In
1999, after Olmetti contended his confession had been coerced, the charges against
him were dismissed for lack of evidence.
g. In 1997, Chicago Police coerced a murder confession from 17-year-old Lanard
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Guider. The police used physical violence in order to force Guider to confess.
When allegations of the police abuse came to light, the State dropped the charges
against Guider.
h. In January 1998, Chicago Police coerced a false murder confession from 16-yearold Eddie Huggins. In a statement he signed while in police custody at 4 a.m.,
Huggins admitted to stabbing the victim multiple times. A later autopsy revealed
that the victim had never been stabbed. A judge ultimately acquitted Huggins of
the murder, and criticized law enforcement for letting “the truth get[] obscured in
the process of winning and losing.”
i. In January 1999, Chicago Police obtained a false confession from Luster Nelson,
an 18-year-old with mental retardation (IQ of 53) for the murders of Mark
Hemphill and Steven Bausal. Police claimed that it took Nelson 90 seconds to read
his Miranda rights, but when a clinical psychologist asked Nelson to read his
35
rights aloud, he was unable to do so, after trying for over 11 minutes. A judge later
threw out the confession and the State dropped all charges against Nelson.
TERRILL SWIFT’S EXONERATION
99.
Throughout his prosecution and incarceration, Terrill Swift continued to maintain
his innocence and pursued all possible avenues to prove it.
100.
Terrill served the entirety of his prison sentence and was released on parole as a
convicted sex offender in May 2010.
101.
On December 3, 2010, Terrill Swift and Michael Saunders filed a motion for post-
conviction DNA testing, which was later joined by Harold Richardson.
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102.
Cellmark Laboratories in Dallas, Texas conducted the DNA testing and obtained a
single male DNA profile from the vaginal swab extracts collected from Ms. Glover post-mortem.
The DNA was not a match to either Terrill or any of the other teenagers.
103.
On May 13, 2011, the Illinois State Police submitted the DNA profile to the
Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) database, which returned a match to the DNA profile of
Johnny Douglas, the 29-year-old convicted felon who was at the scene of the crime when Nina
Glover‟s body was found in the early morning hours of November 7, 1994. The DNA match
powerfully indicated that Douglas raped and murdered Glover, particularly because Douglas had
a history of committing similar violent acts and because he told the responding detectives at the
Glover crime scene, including Defendant Cassidy, that he did not know the victim and knew
nothing about the crime.
104.
On May 29, 2011, Terrill Swift and his co-defendants filed a joint petition to
vacate their convictions. The Circuit Court of Cook County granted the joint petition on
36
November 16, 2011. Shortly thereafter, on January 17, 2012, the Cook County State‟s Attorney‟s
Office agreed to nolle prosequi future charges.
105.
On September 14, 2012, the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County
granted Terrill Swift a Certificate of Innocence.
TERRILL SWIFT’S DAMAGES – EXTREME EMOTIONAL DISTRESS
106.
Terrill Swift was coerced into implicating himself in a heinous crime that he had
no involvement in whatsoever. Terrill experienced extreme anguish, pain and emotional distress
in the course of the coercive interrogation, in the course of the false confession, and in the
aftermath, realizing that he had falsely branded himself as a heinous rapist and a murderer.
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107.
Following his false confession, Terrill Swift was wrongfully convicted of a
horrific crime that he did not commit because of his own false words, which were the sole
evidence against him. The judgment of conviction against Terrill, under these circumstances,
caused him extreme anguish, pain and emotional distress.
108.
Following his wrongful conviction, Terrill spent 15 years in prison and over a
year on parole as a convicted sex offender for a crime he did not commit. He continues to face
extreme anguish, pain and emotional distress as he now attempts to make a life for himself
outside of prison without the benefit of nearly two decades of life experiences—including his
adolescence and young adulthood—which normally equip adults for that task.
109.
Terrill Swift also suffered extreme anguish, pain and emotional distress during his
15 years of wrongful incarceration. Terrill was taken from his close-knit family when he was just
17 years old. During his incarceration, he was stripped of the basic pleasures of human
experience, from the simplest to the most important, which all free people enjoy as a matter of
right. He sat helplessly in prison, convicted of a crime he had not committed, as he missed out
37
on the opportunity to graduate from high school with his friends, to share holidays, births,
funerals, and other life events with loved ones, the opportunity to have girlfriends, to fall in love,
to marry, and to pursue a career, and the fundamental freedom to live his life as an autonomous
human being. Throughout his years in prison, Terrill was branded as a rapist and murderer—the
lowest of criminals—despite the fact that he was innocent of the crime for which he was
convicted.
110.
As a result of the foregoing, Terrill Swift has suffered tremendous damage,
including but not limited to physical harm, loss of freedom, mental suffering, loss of income, and
loss of a normal life, all proximately caused by Defendants‟ misconduct. He has also suffered
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extreme anguish, pain and emotional distress.
111.
Plaintiff Terrill Swift continues to experience physical and psychological pain and
suffering, and extreme anguish, pain and emotional distress, including humiliation, constant fear
of law enforcement and imprisonment, anxiety, deep depression, insomnia, despair, rage, and
other physical and psychological effects from his years of wrongful incarceration.
Count I
Malicious Prosecution
112.
Each paragraph of this Complaint is incorporated as if restated fully herein.
113.
Defendant Chicago Police Detectives Kenneth Boudreau, Richard Paladino,
James Cassidy, Thomas Coughlin, William Foley, F. Valadez, and P. McCafferty and Cook
County Assistant State‟s Attorney Terence Johnson, acting individually, jointly, and in
conspiracy, initiated and continued a prosecution against Terrill Swift, knowing that probable
cause did not exist to arrest and prosecute him for the rape and murder of Nina Glover.
114.
As described above, the Defendant Officers and Defendant Johnson knew that no
true or reliable evidence implicated Terrill Swift in the Glover rape/murder, and that the only
38
evidence against Plaintiff and his co-defendants were the coerced and fabricated statements
obtained by the Defendants using physical force, threats of physical violence and life
imprisonment, undue pressure, and false promises of leniency. The Defendants pursued
Plaintiff‟s and his co-defendants‟ prosecution knowing that forensic evidence indicated their
innocence.
115.
The Defendant Officers intentionally failed to pursue evidence that would have
led to the actual assailant, Johnny Douglas, and instead initiated and continued the prosecutions
of Plaintiff and his co-defendants in order to close the Glover murder case, without regard for
Plaintiff‟s and the other teenagers‟ guilt or innocence.
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116.
The Defendant Officers and Defendant Johnson intentionally withheld from and
misrepresented to prosecutors, the Grand Jury, and the Court facts that vitiated probable cause
against Plaintiff, as set forth above, including the fact that each of the teenagers‟ confessions was
obtained under duress and all were fabrications, crafted by the Defendant Officers and Defendant
Johnson.
117.
Each of the Defendant Officers, Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley,
Valadez, and McCafferty, as well as Defendant Johnson, made statements to trial prosecutors
with the intent of exerting influence on and instituting and continuing the unjust prosecutions of
Plaintiff and the other teenagers, and thereby caused these prosecutions to be instituted and
continued.
118.
Each of the Defendant Officers, Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley,
Valadez, and McCafferty, as well as Defendant Johnson, withheld from Plaintiff and his defense
counsel facts pertaining to their manipulation of Vincent Thames, Michael Saunders, Harold
39
Richardson, and Jerry Fincher and the Defendants‟ coercion and fabrication of the teenagers‟
statements.
119.
The Defendant Officers and Defendant Johnson performed all of the above-
described acts deliberately, with malice, and with reckless disregard for Plaintiff‟s rights.
120.
The Defendant Officers‟ misconduct was committed as part of the systematic
coercion and malicious prosecution of juvenile and other vulnerable suspects previously
committed by the Defendant Officers, and by officers throughout the Chicago Police
Department.
121.
On November 16, 2011, Plaintiff‟s conviction was vacated, and on January 17,
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2012, the Cook County State‟s Attorney‟s Office nolle prossed his case, which constitutes a
termination of the criminal proceedings in his favor. On September 14, 2012, Plaintiff was
granted a Certificate of Innocence by the Chief Judge of the Circuit Court of Cook County, a
finding indicative of innocence.
122.
As a direct and proximate result of the misconduct of Defendants Boudreau,
Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, McCafferty and Johnson, Plaintiff suffered and
continues to suffer the injuries described above, including physical and psychological pain and
suffering and emotional distress, humiliation, constant fear of law enforcement and
imprisonment, anxiety, deep depression, insomnia, despair, rage, and other physical and
psychological effects stemming from his false prosecution and conviction, years of wrongful
incarceration, and being forced to register as a sex offender upon release from prison.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands compensatory damages in an amount in excess of
Thirty Thousand dollars ($30,000), jointly and severally from Defendants Boudreau, Paladino,
Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, McCafferty and Johnson, plus punitive damages against each
40
Defendant in an amount sufficient to deter similar misconduct, plus costs, and whatever
additional relief this Court deems just and equitable.
Count II
Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
123.
Each paragraph of this Complaint is incorporated as if restated fully herein.
124.
The acts and conduct of Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin,
Foley, Valadez, McCafferty and Johnson as set forth above were extreme and outrageous.
Specifically, the Defendants fabricated and coerced Plaintiff‟s and his co-defendants‟
confessions and willfully framed each teenager for a crime he did not commit by instigating their
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prosecutions, and withholding from prosecutors, the Grand Jury, and the Court facts that
exculpated Plaintiff, as set forth in Count I.
125.
The actions of Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley,
Valadez, McCafferty and Johnson were rooted in an abuse of power and they were undertaken
with intent to cause, or were in reckless disregard of the probability that their conduct would
cause, severe emotional distress to Plaintiff, as is more fully alleged above.
126.
The misconduct described in this Count was undertaken with malice, willfulness,
and reckless indifference to the rights of others, as set forth in Count I. The Defendants‟ actions
were also part of a systematic use of coercion to fabricate statements and maliciously prosecute
these juvenile suspects.
127.
As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants‟ actions, Plaintiff suffered, and
continues to suffer, injuries as set forth above, including physical and psychological pain and
suffering and emotional distress, humiliation, constant fear of law enforcement and
imprisonment, anxiety, deep depression, insomnia, despair, rage, and other physical and
41
psychological effects stemming from his false prosecution and conviction, years of wrongful
incarceration and being forced to register as a sex offender upon release from prison
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands compensatory damages in an amount in excess of
Thirty Thousand dollars ($30,000) and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to deter similar
misconduct, jointly and severally from the Defendants named in this Count, plus costs, and
whatever additional relief this Court deems just and equitable.
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Count III
Civil Conspiracy
128.
Each paragraph of this Complaint is incorporated as if restated fully herein.
129.
As set above, the Defendant Officers Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin,
Foley, Valadez, McCafferty and Defendant Johnson, acting in concert with one another and other
yet-unknown co-conspirators, conspired by concerted action to accomplish an unlawful purpose
by unlawful means.
130.
Each of the Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley, Valadez,
McCafferty and Johnson entered into an agreement in early March 1995 to maliciously prosecute
Plaintiff, Harold Richardson, Vincent Thames, Michael Saunders, and Jerry Fincher for Nina
Glover‟s rape and murder, knowing there was no probable cause to do so, in order to close the
Glover murder case.
131.
In furtherance of the conspiracy, Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy,
Coughlin, Foley, Valadez, McCafferty and Johnson committed overt and unlawful acts as set
forth above, including obtaining the arrest of each teenager without probable cause, coercing and
fabricating each teenager‟s “confession,” willfully and maliciously instigating and promoting the
prosecution of each teenager without probable cause, committing perjury in judicial proceedings
as to the circumstances of the teenagers‟ confessions, withholding exculpatory information from
42
the Courts and prosecutors, and causing the intentional infliction of emotional distress upon
Plaintiff and his co-defendants, as described in Count II.
132.
The misconduct described in this Count was undertaken intentionally, with
malice, willfulness, and reckless indifference to the rights of others.
133.
As a direct and proximate result of the Defendants‟ conspiracy, Plaintiff suffered
damages, including severe emotional distress and anguish, as is more fully alleged above.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands compensatory damages in an amount in excess of
Thirty Thousand dollars ($30,000) and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to deter similar
misconduct, jointly and severally from the defendants named in this Count, plus costs, and
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whatever additional relief this Court deems just and equitable.
Count IV
False Imprisonment
134.
Each paragraph of this Complaint is incorporated as if restated fully herein.
135.
In the manner described above Plaintiff was detained, seized, arrested and
incarcerated for the rape and murder of Nina Glover, despite the Defendants‟ lack of probable
cause.
136.
As a result of this misconduct, Plaintiff‟s freedom of movement was unduly and
unlawfully restricted for over fifteen years, including during the time he was released on parole
as a registered sex offender in DuPage County.
137.
As a result of this misconduct, Plaintiff has suffered, and continues to suffer,
injuries, including pain and suffering, as is alleged above.
138.
The actions of Defendants Boudreau, Paladino, Cassidy, Coughlin, Foley,
Valadez, McCafferty and Johnson, as set forth above, proximately caused the false imprisonment
43
of Plaintiff until he was no longer subject to the terms of his parole, when his conviction was
vacated on November 16, 2011
139.
The Defendants‟ actions set forth above were undertaken intentionally, with
malice and with reckless indifference to Plaintiff‟s rights.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands compensatory damages in an amount in excess of
Thirty Thousand dollars ($30,000) and punitive damages in an amount sufficient to deter similar
misconduct, jointly and severally from the defendants named in this Count, plus costs and
whatever additional relief this Court deems just and equitable.
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Count V
Respondeat Superior Against City of Chicago and Cook County
140.
Each paragraph of this Complaint is incorporated as if restated fully herein.
141.
In committing the acts alleged in this Complaint and in Counts I through IV, each
of the Defendant Officers was an employee and agent of the City of Chicago and the Chicago
Police Department, acting at all relevant times within the scope of his employment.
142.
In committing the acts alleged in this Complaint, Defendant Johnson was an
employee and agent of Cook County.
143.
Defendant City of Chicago is liable as principal for all torts in violation of state
law committed by its agents.
144.
Defendant Cook County is liable as principal for all torts in violation of state law
committed by its agents.
WHEREFORE, Plaintiff demands compensatory damages in an amount in excess of
Thirty Thousand dollars ($30,000) from Defendants City of Chicago and Cook County, plus
costs and whatever additional relief this Court deems just and equitable.
44
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Locke E. Bowman
Alexa Van Brunt
Roderick MacArthur Justice Center
Northwestern University School of Law
357 E. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(312) 503-0844
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J. Samuel Tenenbaum
Bluhm Legal Clinic
Northwestern University School of Law
357 E. Chicago Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60611
(312) 503-4808
John L. Stainthorp
G. Flint Taylor
Jan Susler
People‟s Law Office
1180 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Chicago, Illinois 60642
(773) 235-0070
46
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SERVICE LIST
Swift v. City of Chicago et al.
2012-L-012995
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James G. Sotos
Elizabeth A. Ekl
Jeffrey N. Given
The Sotos Law Firm, P.C.
550 East Devon Avenue Suite 150
Itasca, Illinois 60143
Counsel for Defendant City of Chicago
Eileen E. Rosen
Stacy A. Benjamin
Silvia Mercado Masters
Catherine M. Barber
Rock Fusco & Connelly
321 North Clark Street, Suite 2200
Chicago, Illinois 60654
Counsel for Defendant Officers
James C. Pullos
Cook County State‟s Attorney‟s Office
50 W. Washington Avenue
500 Richard Daley Center
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Counsel for Defendant Cook County
Patricia C. Bobb & Associates
30 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 1524
Chicago, Illinois 60602
Counsel for Defendant Terence Johnson