While state attorney general in 1992, Burris aggressively sought the death penalty for Rolando Cruz, who twice was convicted of raping and murdering a 10-year-old girl in the Chicago suburb of Naperville. The crime took place in 1983.
But by 1992, another man had confessed [2] to the crime, and Burris’ own assistant attorney general was pleading with Burris to drop the case, then on appeal before the Illinois Supreme Court. Burris refused. He was running for governor.
“Anybody who understood this case wouldn’t have voted for Burris,” Rob Warden, executive director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, told ProPublica. Indeed, Burris lost that race, and two other attempts to become governor.
Burris’ role in the Cruz case was “indefensible and in defiance of common sense and common decency,” Warden said. “There was obvious evidence that [Cruz] was innocent.” Assistant attorney general Mary Brigid Kenney agreed, and eventually resigned [3] rather than continue to prosecute Cruz.
Once Burris assigned Kenney to the case in 1991, she became convinced that Cruz was innocent, a victim of what she believed was prosecutorial misconduct. She sent Burris a memo reporting that the jury convicted Cruz without knowing that Brian Dugan, a repeat sex offender and murderer, had confessed to the crime. Burris never met with Kenney to discuss a new trial for Cruz, Kenney told ProPublica.
“This story may be the real reason the Dems do not want to seat this creep.”
I don’t think so. Reid is just totally incompetent. This guy will be seated (as required by law) within 24 hours. 48 tops.
If this is true, GW Bush should be standing behind him vouching for his decency. After all, Bush put nine innocents down as Governor of Texas.
And the repubs should be drafting him to their side.
Nothing new here. Just Chicago politics at its finest. Glad I moved out of Illinois years ago.
Haw. Now the Repug hacks come crawling out of the woodwork.
If this had been one of the legion Repug prosecutors who sought to slay innocent victims, lips would be sealed tighter than a Zip-Loc bag.
What next? An exposé about Al “The Pornographer” Franken writing for Playboy?
The hypocrisy is so thick you could cut it with a chain saw.
Sounds like standard DA behavior. Can’t ever admit to making a mistake.
I’d like to see a law that require DA’s who knowingly prosecute death penalty cases when they know there is (a) contrary evidence, (b) proof of innocence, be required to be put to death themselves in place of the guy they are railroading. Then maybe they will stop abusing their office for political gains.
It looks like Blagojevich found a soul mate.
#3…same here. The evening news was grand entertainment, better than the sitcoms. But Harold Washington was cool, and fun.
OK, so Burris was the dipshit that kept Cruz in jail. IIRC everybody knew that trial was bad, except for Burris. He deserves this mess.
Paddy…all the Dem leaders are idiots and the Repubs never have any incompetents. Got it. Just so we know where you’re coming from.
Mustard, really. So you support this schmuck even though the evidence is clear he is just another corrupt official, be it Dem or Rep. You are clearly showing your ass on this one. Quit supporting the party and start supporting the person, or STFU. The same goes for your sad Obama worship, frankly it’s sickening and quite tiresome. Until we see some of this change we keep hearing about, you really should back it off so as not to look more foolish than you and your butt buddy Fusion already do.
Doofus.
#8 – Larraine
>>Mustard, really. So you support this schmuck even
>>though the evidence is clear he is just another
>>corrupt official, be it Dem or Rep.
Untwist your panties. I neither support the guy nor oppose the guy. I don’t really give a shit about the guy. He was a prosecutor, and prosecutors are pricks pretty much universally. They’re the ones who are screaming themselves hoarse in opposing DNA vindication of innocent victims.
What I find hilarious, though, is the Repugnican partisan hacks crawling out of their fetid cesspools, screaming bloody murder about a Dem prosecutor not backing down from a prosecution, even though 20:20 hindsight showed that the accused was innocent.
The Repugnican party is recognized world-wide as the “Kill ‘Em First, Ask Questions Later” barbarian champions. For them to pretend moral outrage of this Burris dust-up is one of the funniest examples of blatant hypocrisy I’ve ever seen.
Blagojevich promised Burris that he would personally “off” Rolando Cruz in exchange for Burris’ challenging the investigation of Blagojevich behind the scenes from his senator seat behind the scenes.
“I don’t think so. Reid is just totally incompetent. This guy will be seated (as required by law) within 24 hours. 48 tops.”
How is he required “by law” to be seated? Any of the successful challenges I have seen to Art 1 Sec 5 of the Constitution have involved people actually elected, not appointed; and certainly not by a corrupt governor who the Senate leadership had already said wasn’t going to seat any appointee of.
Geez, I have to agree with Paddy again! The end times MUST be approaching :)!
# 11 Sea Lawyer said, “How is he required “by law” to be seated?”
“Each House shall be the Judge of the Elections, Returns and Qualifications”
There was no election or “returns” to judge. The only other “qualifications” are those laid out in the Constitution… Which he clearly fulfills.
Reid knows he’d get stomped if it went to court. Thus, he’ll seat the guy. Watch.
He’ll be seated. A replacement will be found and put in withing a couple of months. Burris will thankfully be gone, shortly after Bush is thankfully gone.
#14, again, this is an extraordinary case of the appointee of a governor who was observed actively attempting to sell the appointment. The whole thing is tainted.
I think this will take a new court ruling to decide who is right here.
Those dastardly prosecutors. They should all be shot, and the positions left unfilled.
# 16 Sea Lawyer said, “I think this will take a new court ruling to decide who is right here.”
I checked with someone in D.C. He’ll be seated maybe tomorrow, in not, probably by Friday.
The Daily Show’s bit about his “resume” on his tombstone made him really seem like a real oddball http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=215300&title=crisis-in-the-senate
Prosecutors have a tough job.
Just watch any prison movie for the stereotypical “everyone in jail says they are innocent” quips.
Prosecutors aren’t nice and aren’t paid to be nice. Your defense is your responsibility.
The unfortunate side effects of this are:
1. Poor people get lower quality representation.
2. A lot of falsely convicted or falsely accused people are not exactly angels or clean, and as a result it makes them easier to get caught up in these situations.
#18 – Paddy O’Beltway
>>I checked with someone in D.C.
Who? Captain Marvel? Batman?
Oh…you meant Washington DC, not DC Comics. I get it.
That’s right, you’re a real Beltway insider, rearranging desk tchotchkes for the Secretary of State, and like that.
It must be great to have a straight line to the highest echelons of our nation’s government. I’ll bet all the kids at Radio Shack are so jealous….
Being a scumbag politician is not a disqualification to be seated as a US Senator.
I’m with Paddy-0’DCComics on this one and think Mustard is really being insulting to say Paddy was referring to our Nations Capitol.
4 minutes ago –
(AP) — WASHINGTON (AP) – Roland Burris says he’s pleased with the reception he got today from Senate Democratic leaders and he expects he’ll be able to join them soon as Illinois’ junior senator.
Mr. Mustard, must suck to have to get your info from “news” organizations…
#22 – Bobbo
You might be right. I assumed, perhaps in error, that because Paddy O’Beltway claims so many stellar friends in the firmament of US national politics, that he was referring to the DC of Washington fame.
Makes much more sense that he would be talking about his special friends in the DC comic books. Why would the White House switchboard even put through a call from a counter boy at Radio Shack?
HMeyers…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brian_Dugan
#24–Mustard==I will back down as well. With all of Paddy’s imaginary friends/links/certainties, its too close to call. Especially difficult here–how close to a comic strip is Washington DC anyway? Any one of us highly engaged in either would probably get confused over time.
I think this guy is really incompetent as well. However, want I really wanted to comment is why users who claim to not care one way or another for a person or situation could argue so deeply for what they don’t care in the first place.
Conversations with someone who doesn’t care at all in the first place is useless. In fact, if you don’t care about the topic in discussion don’t bother posting. Must be a nice place to have your say and then claim you don’t care either way.
Burris may or may not be seated tomorrow. Or the next day. I suppose it all depends on how the Senate and all the various factions react.
Burris deserves the seat. He meets the criteria set out for Senators. He was appointed to an empty seat by his Governor as required by the XXVII Amendment
When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies
Since the XXVII Amendment supercedes the “Each chamber shall be the Judge” section, it would and should be the prevailing law.
HOWEVER,
Now knowing that he knew an innocent man was being given the death penalty should have shamed and followed him all these years. That is something that can not be forgiven. He and all crooked prosecutors and cops do not deserve the bounty of this great land.
Blagojevich made a bigger mistake then originally thought.
#28–Pedro==I hate to be a big poo-poo but I’m just stringing off of Mustards original humor that I would not have seen myself. Christmas Goodwill is still with me hoping a wonderful New Year for you and all your condiments.
#23 – Paddy O’Beltway
>>Mr. Mustard, must suck to have to get your
>>info from “news” organizations…
Why? That’s where you got yours. And they’ve been reporting that “news” for hours before your AP posting.
In any case, I never disputed that they would seat Burris; what I disputed was that you have an “inside source” in “DC” whom you call for inside information.
I can just hear the conversation: “Hey Condi; it’s me. Paddy O’Beltway. Remember when I rearranged those desk ornaments for you? Now I want the quid for my quo … or is that the quo for my quid? – Anyhoo, are they going to seat Burris? Yeah? OK. When? OK. Thanks, Condi. You’re the bee’s knees. Ciao.”
HAW HAW HAW!!!
#20, Meyers,
2. A lot of falsely convicted or falsely accused people are not exactly angels or clean, and as a result it makes them easier to get caught up in these situations.
That shouldn’t matter. Whenever the police or prosecution knowingly prosecute someone they know did not do it they do everyone a disservice. They are there to uphold the law, not jail people they know are innocent. Reputation or not.