Joshua Tepfer on Corruption and Wrongful Conviction in Chicago
18 More Convictions Tied to Corrupt Chicago Cop to be Tossed
Prosecutors are set to dismiss convictions against 18 more people that resulted from investigations by a corrupt Chicago police sergeant and his crew of tactical officers.
The exonerations will take place Monday and will bring to 42 the total number of overturned convictions linked to then-Sgt. Ronald Watts since 2016, the Chicago Tribune reported.
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Joshua Tepfer, who represented 12 of the men whose cases will be dismissed Monday, said the fact that Watts was allowed to operate for so long even though his corruption was an "open secret" among police leadership illustrates a "total failure of the system."
"My clients told everyone about it, and no one believed them," said Tepfer, an attorney for the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School. "They told police investigators, they told judges, defense attorneys and prosecutors. Their complaints were dismissed and ignored."
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