CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - A new lawsuit filed in federal court Thursday claims that torture led to a man’s wrongful conviction.
Lee Harris spent 33 years in prison, confessing to a 1989 murder he did not commit. He was exonerated this year and his legal team, in addition to the lawsuit, has filed for a certificate of innocence.
“When you lose trust in people, you look at the world completely different,” Harris said.
Lawyers for Lee Harris announced the suit from the former Cabrini-Green site that he once called home. They said before his conviction Harris had been a pillar of his community, coaching youth sports and leading violence prevention efforts.
“Lee trusted Chicago Police Department officers that he built friendships with over years, and that trust was rewarded with the Chicago Police Department framing Mr. Harris over months of interrogations, months of brutal psychological tactics,” said attorney Jordan Poole.
At the top of the defendant list is former Chicago Police Detective Richard Zuley, said Poole.
“Chicago is famous for many things deep dish pizza, Chicago hot dogs but also police brutality and torture. And, Mr. Zuley perfected that here. He perfect his tactics with the Chicago Police Department, and he took those down to Guantanamo Bay and is now internationally infamous as a result,” Poole said.
“Mr. Harris witnessed firsthand the kind of damage that Detective Zuley wrought.”
The City of Chicago, Cook County and a number of former Chicago Police officers are named in the suit.
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