Attorneys will get their deposition from former Mayor Richard Daley after all.
Daley has agreed to answer attorneys' questions about alleged torture under the command of former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge. Paul A. Michalik, an attorney for the city, confirmed after a morning hearing that Daley will appear for the deposition.
"It would be significant to ask him about his role as [Cook County] State's Attorney, about what he knew and when he knew with regard to the police torture scandal," said attorney Flint Taylor.
Taylor is one of the lawyers who, representing Richard Tillman, went before a federal judge to "compel" Daley to take the stand about his knowledge of police torture.
Tillman spent 23 years in prison for a murder he did not commit and is now suing the city. Tillman said Chicago police officers working under the command of Burge tortured him into confessing to a murder of a woman who lived in his building.
Burge currently is serving prison time for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Taylor said the former mayor has up until now refused to cooperate, but the city's law department said the deposition was interrupted by the death of Maggie Daley.
"It's not very likely that [Daley] will be very personally involved, but his reputation may be involved because he was seen as a hands-on manager both in the state's attorney's office and in the mayor's office," said former alderman and current political science professor Dick Simpson.
The types of questions Daley will be asked have yet to be determined.
