Illinois Governor Quinn commutes sentences of 2 men with shaky murder convictions

Tyrone Hood at Lawrence Correctional Center, Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2011, in downstate Sumner. (Chuck Berman, Chicago Tribune)

In his final minutes in office Monday, Gov. Pat Quinn granted 43 clemency petitions, including two commutations that will lead to freedom for convicted murderers whose appeals had been stuck in the courts in spite of mounting evidence of their innocence.

The outgoing governor also commuted the sentence of a man convicted of attempted murder following a shootout with Chicago police and granted pardons to one of former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge’s alleged torture victims as well as to a former Peoria County man who spent three decades in prison for a double murder before being paroled.

Although not nearly as sweeping or dramatic as former Gov. George Ryan’s emptying of Death Row as he left office in January 2003, Quinn’s clemencies were nonetheless bold, and sparked intense criticism. In some instances, Quinn acted in cases in which prosecutors had opposed relief, though in one case – that of Tyrone Hood – Cook County prosecutors have been conducting a lengthy investigation of Hood’s innocence claims.

Corrections officials said Hood was expected to be freed on Tuesday; it was not clear when the other inmates would be released.

P.S. Ruckman, a professor at Rock Valley College in Rockford and author of two books on executive clemency, said while governors often grant clemencies in older cases involving minor crimes where the chances of public backlash are small, Quinn took the riskier route by commuting sentences and setting inmates free.

He said Quinn had taken his clemency powers seriously and “done yeoman’s work.”

“Governors who commute sentences definitely exhibit a willingness to make a gutsy call,” he said. “But it’s in keeping with how Gov. Quinn has used his clemency powers during his time in office.”

A spokeswoman for Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez said the top prosecutor was “deeply disappointed” by the commutations and called the clemency process a “secretive maneuver that puts the rights of victims of crime and their families at the bottom of the list of prioriities.”

The spokeswoman, Sally Daly, suggested that Quinn failed to allow for “substantive hearings” where prosecutors and victims’ families could speak and potentially affect his decisions. Daly said prosecutors were “left completely without explanation how or why these convicted criminals were selected” to get relief.

Hood, 51, was serving a 50-year sentence for the 1993 shooting death of Marshall Morgan Jr., an Illinois Institute of Technology basketball standout. Hood has long maintained his innocence and said police should have looked at the young man’s father more carefully.

The Tribune has reported extensively on the case and the links to Morgan’s father. Marshall Morgan Sr. was convicted of manslaughter in the 1977 shooting death of a friend who owed him money. He was questioned in the death of his son in large part because, in the months before his son was slain, he was struggling financially and took out a life insurance policy on his son. He was a suspect two years later in the murder of his fiancee, whose life he also insured.

Authorities never charged him in the deaths of his son or fiancee. But he was charged and convicted in the 2001 shooting death of his girlfriend and is serving a 75-year sentence. After inquiries from the Tribune in 2012, Cook County prosecutors announced that Hood's case would be among the first re-examined by the office’s new Conviction Integrity Unit. And though the unit has set aside other convictions, it has not done so with Hood, who was not set to be paroled until 2030.

“It’s a huge victory from the sense that Tyrone will have his freedom back,” said Gayle Horn, Hood’s lead attorney. “But we still want to clear his name because he is innocent.”

Anthony Dansberry, 52, was convicted in the 1991 murder of an elderly Oak Park woman largely on the strength of a confession he signed -- although his attorneys said he could not read it -- as well as a questionable identification by a witness. That witness described the suspect as a black man about 18 to 20 years old and did not mention facial hair. Dansberry was 29 and he had a mustache and a beard, according to court papers.

Dansberry was not scheduled to be paroled until 2029.

Among Dansberry’s attorneys was Jane Raley of Northwestern University’s Center on Wrongful Convictions. Raley died on Christmas Day.

“It’s Jane’s final victory,” said Karen Daniel, director of the center.

Quinn commuted the 40-year sentence of Howard Morgan, who was convicted of shooting at four Chicago police officers during an early morning traffic stop in 2005 in the Lawndale neighborhood. Morgan, who was a Chicago police officer before becoming a railroad cop, claimed he was the victim of overzealous officers. But police said Morgan fired at them first, and testimony indicated he fired 17 times, while he was hit more than two dozen times.

Morgan’s trial attorney, Sam Adam Jr., has always maintained his client’s innocence but doubted he would ever receive clemency.

“So many politicians wouldn’t have gone anywhere near it,” said Adam. “But instead of worrying about his political future or legacy, (Quinn) did what was right.”

The departing overnor issued David Bates a pardon based on innocence. Bates was convicted in 1983 of murder and served 11 years before he was exonerated, after it was determined his confession had been coerced by detectives working for the disgraced Burge on the South Side.

Quinn granted a pardon to Johnnie Lee Savory, who had been convicted of a 1977 double-murder in Peoria. Savory, who has long insisted he was not involved in the crime, was paroled in 2006 after 30 years in prison and has continued to try to prove his innocence.

Quinn commuted the 2 1/2-year sentence of Willie Johnson, who pleaded guilty to perjury in a case that sparked much criticism of State’s Attorney Alvarez. Johnson, 43, had been wounded in a 1992 shooting on the West Side that killed two friends, and he identified the gunman at trial. Nearly two decades later, he recanted his testimony during an appeal for two men, Cedric Cal and Albert Kirkman, who were convicted of the crime and are serving life sentences.

After Johnson recanted, prosecutors charged him with perjury. A coalition of former judges, prosecutors and others urgeed Alvarez to drop the case, saying the charges would discourage witnesses from recanting false testimony and hinder wrongful conviction investigations.

In addition to the 43 clemencies Monday, Quinn denied 119 petitions.

After inheriting more than 2,800 requests that now-imprisoned former Gov. Rod Blagojevich took no action on, Quinn has decided 4,928 clemency petitions, more than any other Illinois governor, his administration said. Quinn has granted 1,795 and denied 3,133 requests, according to his administration.

As word spread that Quinn was considering clemency requests, the number of petitions increased during his tenure. He leaves office with about 2,000 petitions still pending.

Full list of Clemency requests granted by Governor Quinn

http://www.chicagotribune.com/chi-clemency-list-20150112-htmlstory.html