Alleged Burge Victim Pleads Guilty, Maintains Innocence

By Kevin Robinson in News on May 11, 2010 2:20PM

The wheels of justice in America turn slowly. So slowly that Cortez Brown, in prison for nearly two decades for a murder he claims he didn't commit, pleaded guilty yesterday to the crime so he could be released from prison in a timely fashion even as he maintains his innocence in the crime.

Cortez Brown says his confession to two 1990 murders was beaten out of him by two detectives working under former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge. Brown, an admitted former Gangster Disciple, claims that police beat him with steel flashlights and their bare fists. "Even today, I'm still afraid these officers may do something to my family or have something done to me while I'm in jail," Brown told Cook County Judge Clayton Crane, who sentenced him to 40 years in prison. With time served and credit for good behavior, Brown could be eligible for early release by September. Brown was initially sentenced to 35 years in jail, and was sentenced to death in 1992. That sentence was commuted to life in prison by then-Governor George Ryan. And last year Judge Crane overturned Brown's conviction, citing "staggering" and "damning" evidence that he was tortured.

Although he maintains his innocence in the case, Flint Taylor, one of Brown's lawyers, says that pleading guilty is a "practical decision" at this point, explaining that he could spend more time in prison waiting for new trials.