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CNN Saturday Morning News

Four Pardons in Illinois

Aired January 11, 2003 - 08:08   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.


O'BRIEN: Now to Illinois we go, where Republican Governor George Ryan has pardoned four convicted killers in one of his last acts as governor. He believes the men were tortured into confessing the crimes and today Ryan is expected to announce his decision on clemency for the 156 remaining death row inmates. Some victims and some prosecutors are quite enraged by all of this.
Our Jeff flock joining us from Chicago with more about the whole controversy. Jeff, when is the governor going to speak at Northwestern?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 1:00 p.m. local time, so that's 2:00 Eastern and of course, we'll have an eye on that. And I do suspect that if it's anywhere near the number of total possible clemencies that he could announce, it will incite a lot of rage. Not as much yesterday, as you might expect, from the pardoning of those four inmates. Those are fairly sympathetic guys, not that many victims' families out there upset about that.

If you get other people's sentences commuted today, however, I think you'll get some real outrage. Again, four men pardoned yesterday. That means they walk free off death row. They were sitting on a sentence of death, but now they are free. Well at least three, I should say are free. The fourth had a pending conviction, had to do some more time there, so he's not walking free. For them, though, yesterday was a very happy day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK (voice-over): Madison Hobley in prison 15 years for this arson fire that killed seven.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank God that this day has finally came.

FLOCK: Aaron Patterson prison 16 years, confessed to stabbing an elderly couple 34 times, though with a paper clip he'd scrawled I lie about murders. Police suffocate me with plastic on a police bench.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miracles, you know miracles do happen, you know.

FLOCK: Leroy Orange...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want to do now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eat.

FLOCK: Nineteen years for stabbing his girlfriend and her son, though another confessed.

GOV. GEORGE RYAN (R), ILLINOIS: Today I am pardoning them for the crime for which they were wrongfully prosecuted.

FLOCK: In all four pardons, all say they had confessions tortured out of them. An example, Governor Ryan says of a broken death penalty system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the system is broken and the governor started to break it today, and every expectation we have is he'll continue that process tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

FLOCK: Saturday, Ryan considers commuting the death sentences of the remaining 150 or so condemned death row inmates to life in prison, another bold stroke for a man whose term and political career ends Monday.

(on camera): Is that the thing that's enabled you to do what you've done since you weren't worrying about that?

RYAN: No, I probably would have done the same thing, frankly. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it's not like -- no, look, how do you allow innocent people to march down death row into a death chamber and be -- and almost be executed?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK: Miles, a lot of people have suggested the governor took this action only because his political career is over, but there are many who believe that he feels very strongly about his beliefs. We'll see how strongly today when he announces the number of commutations, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Flock in Chicago. Interesting story unfolding there. We appreciate it.

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 11, 2003 - 08:08   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
O'BRIEN: Now to Illinois we go, where Republican Governor George Ryan has pardoned four convicted killers in one of his last acts as governor. He believes the men were tortured into confessing the crimes and today Ryan is expected to announce his decision on clemency for the 156 remaining death row inmates. Some victims and some prosecutors are quite enraged by all of this.
Our Jeff flock joining us from Chicago with more about the whole controversy. Jeff, when is the governor going to speak at Northwestern?

JEFF FLOCK, CNN CORRESPONDENT: 1:00 p.m. local time, so that's 2:00 Eastern and of course, we'll have an eye on that. And I do suspect that if it's anywhere near the number of total possible clemencies that he could announce, it will incite a lot of rage. Not as much yesterday, as you might expect, from the pardoning of those four inmates. Those are fairly sympathetic guys, not that many victims' families out there upset about that.

If you get other people's sentences commuted today, however, I think you'll get some real outrage. Again, four men pardoned yesterday. That means they walk free off death row. They were sitting on a sentence of death, but now they are free. Well at least three, I should say are free. The fourth had a pending conviction, had to do some more time there, so he's not walking free. For them, though, yesterday was a very happy day.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK (voice-over): Madison Hobley in prison 15 years for this arson fire that killed seven.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thank God that this day has finally came.

FLOCK: Aaron Patterson prison 16 years, confessed to stabbing an elderly couple 34 times, though with a paper clip he'd scrawled I lie about murders. Police suffocate me with plastic on a police bench.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miracles, you know miracles do happen, you know.

FLOCK: Leroy Orange...

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What do you want to do now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Eat.

FLOCK: Nineteen years for stabbing his girlfriend and her son, though another confessed.

GOV. GEORGE RYAN (R), ILLINOIS: Today I am pardoning them for the crime for which they were wrongfully prosecuted.

FLOCK: In all four pardons, all say they had confessions tortured out of them. An example, Governor Ryan says of a broken death penalty system.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, the system is broken and the governor started to break it today, and every expectation we have is he'll continue that process tomorrow.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How are you? (UNINTELLIGIBLE)

FLOCK: Saturday, Ryan considers commuting the death sentences of the remaining 150 or so condemned death row inmates to life in prison, another bold stroke for a man whose term and political career ends Monday.

(on camera): Is that the thing that's enabled you to do what you've done since you weren't worrying about that?

RYAN: No, I probably would have done the same thing, frankly. (UNINTELLIGIBLE) it's not like -- no, look, how do you allow innocent people to march down death row into a death chamber and be -- and almost be executed?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FLOCK: Miles, a lot of people have suggested the governor took this action only because his political career is over, but there are many who believe that he feels very strongly about his beliefs. We'll see how strongly today when he announces the number of commutations, Miles.

O'BRIEN: All right, Jeff Flock in Chicago. Interesting story unfolding there. We appreciate it.

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