Lawyers are losing patience with getting former Mayor Richard Daley to testify in the torture lawsuit of Michael Tillman.
After months of waiting and an alleged lack of cooperation, Attorney Flint Taylor of the People’s Law Office plans to go before a federal judge Thursday to "compel" Daley to take the stand about his knowledge of police torture. He filed a motion Tuesday.
Taylor represents Tillman, who 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 Jon 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.
Lawyers want to know what Daley may have known about the incident, and Taylor plans to go before the same judge who ruled last year Daley could be listed as a defendant.
Taylor said the former mayor has refused to cooperate, but the city's law department said the deposition was interrupted by the death of Maggie Daley.
More than 100 torture complaints against a small group of Chicago police officers date back to the 1970s. And to date, according to Taylor, the city has paid approximately $15 million in legal fees to defend Burge and the city and another $22 million in settlements.
In an August 2011 letter, Daley’s attorney’s argued deposing Daley is nothing more than a publicity stunt by Taylor.
"If this were a defendant by the name of John Doe," Taylor said, "I would be going after him just as aggressively as I am Mayor Daley."
Meanwhile, arguments will be heard Thursday in the appeal of the conviction of Jon Burge.
