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CNN Live At Daybreak

Wake-Up Call: Death Row Pardons

Aired January 10, 2003 - 06:33   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to our "Wake-Up Call" with a look behind the headlines. CNN's Jeff Flock just called in with an update on a story he's following today, the expected pardons for death row inmates in Illinois.
Jeff -- what's your update?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.

We've got a source close to the clemency process who was telling us that Governor Ryan in Illinois today will pardon four men. That means four men will walk off death row as early perhaps as today. So, it is a big day in Illinois.

COSTELLO: Governor Ryan really took a brave step when he kind of halted all executions in Illinois.

FLOCK: You got it. He is a Republican, typically conservative. He stopped executions in January of 2002. He's been a hero around the world, although here in Illinois, people in law enforcement and a lot of victims' families are upset about it.

COSTELLO: Yes, but I mean, four men are going to walk off death row, innocent guys.

FLOCK: Well, right. Now, of course, they would argue -- the police would argue and prosecutors that these guys aren't innocent. They've all four confessed. A lot of them have been in prison for a long time.

Leroy Orange, a guy that we had an exclusive jailhouse interview with a couple of months ago, has been in for 19 years. They all say, though, that those confessions were tortured out of them. And there is some evidence. There you see Leroy. He's a happy man today. And you know, he has said that they used electric shock on him. And you know, as I said, there has been evidence.

The man who commanded the unit where he was interrogated was removed from the police force, but Leroy could not get a new trial.

COSTELLO: What does Leroy plan to do now?

FLOCK: Well, you know, he was one of the more conservative ones. He said, all I want the governor to do is take me off death row, to commute my sentence. So, I'm not sure what his plans are. A lot of the other inmates said, you know, I'm innocent, I want to get out. But Leroy said, I can't fight this and fight for my innocence if I'm dead, so all I need to do is get off death row. He's got even more than that today; he's got freedom.

COSTELLO: Can we expect to see more of this, Jeff?

FLOCK: Well, you know, we're going to see tomorrow, we believe that Governor Ryan tomorrow will make his announcement on commutations -- that is, taking people who have a death sentence and commuting it to life in prison. There could be a large number of people there, because Governor Ryan says he really just doesn't have confidence in the process that convicted these men.

COSTELLO: All right, Jeff Flock, thanks for the update, and we'll be following you with this story all day long right here on CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired January 10, 2003 - 06:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Turning now to our "Wake-Up Call" with a look behind the headlines. CNN's Jeff Flock just called in with an update on a story he's following today, the expected pardons for death row inmates in Illinois.
Jeff -- what's your update?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Carol, good morning to you.

We've got a source close to the clemency process who was telling us that Governor Ryan in Illinois today will pardon four men. That means four men will walk off death row as early perhaps as today. So, it is a big day in Illinois.

COSTELLO: Governor Ryan really took a brave step when he kind of halted all executions in Illinois.

FLOCK: You got it. He is a Republican, typically conservative. He stopped executions in January of 2002. He's been a hero around the world, although here in Illinois, people in law enforcement and a lot of victims' families are upset about it.

COSTELLO: Yes, but I mean, four men are going to walk off death row, innocent guys.

FLOCK: Well, right. Now, of course, they would argue -- the police would argue and prosecutors that these guys aren't innocent. They've all four confessed. A lot of them have been in prison for a long time.

Leroy Orange, a guy that we had an exclusive jailhouse interview with a couple of months ago, has been in for 19 years. They all say, though, that those confessions were tortured out of them. And there is some evidence. There you see Leroy. He's a happy man today. And you know, he has said that they used electric shock on him. And you know, as I said, there has been evidence.

The man who commanded the unit where he was interrogated was removed from the police force, but Leroy could not get a new trial.

COSTELLO: What does Leroy plan to do now?

FLOCK: Well, you know, he was one of the more conservative ones. He said, all I want the governor to do is take me off death row, to commute my sentence. So, I'm not sure what his plans are. A lot of the other inmates said, you know, I'm innocent, I want to get out. But Leroy said, I can't fight this and fight for my innocence if I'm dead, so all I need to do is get off death row. He's got even more than that today; he's got freedom.

COSTELLO: Can we expect to see more of this, Jeff?

FLOCK: Well, you know, we're going to see tomorrow, we believe that Governor Ryan tomorrow will make his announcement on commutations -- that is, taking people who have a death sentence and commuting it to life in prison. There could be a large number of people there, because Governor Ryan says he really just doesn't have confidence in the process that convicted these men.

COSTELLO: All right, Jeff Flock, thanks for the update, and we'll be following you with this story all day long right here on CNN.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.