Burge tape used in bid to free man

Attorneys trying to free a man who claims Chicago Police tortured him into giving a false murder confession showed a parole board Friday a tape of former Area 2 Cmdr. Jon Burge repeatedly refusing to answer questions on alleged torture in the department. The Illinois Prisoner Review Board is scheduled to decide by Wednesday whether to free inmate Darrell Cannon, who claims officers under Burge tortured him. Cannon's attorneys, Locke E. Bowman and Flint Taylor, argued that Burge's deposition is evidence he and others have something to hide. The three-member board heard Burge, like at least four other current and former police officers who testified before him, refuse to answer questions. Unlike in a criminal case, the review board can hold it against the former officers for taking the Fifth while deciding if Cannon should be freed. Cannon, 53, alleges that in 1983, officers drove him to a remote location, shoved a gun in his mouth and played Russian roulette to get him to confess to a murder. He also testified that officers put cattle prods on his genitals and shocked him.[more ]