THE CASE FOR JERRY’S INNOCENCE
"Jerry Gillespie languished in prison because of a forced and false confession. He is faultless. We have the found murderers and they have confessed, but no one cares." – Andrea Lyon, Jerry’s attorney
Chicago police detectives mercilessly extracted a confession from Jerry -- they slapped him in the face, grabbed him by the throat, and knocked him to the ground while handcuffed to a chair because he continued to maintain his innocence.
Even after the two actual murderers wrote out and signed sworn affidavits over ten years later admitting their crimes and corroborating Jerry’s claim that he had nothing to do with the murder, procedural technicalities prevented Jerry from seeking exoneration.
The police detectives failed Jerry, the legal system has failed Jerry. Now is the time to bring Jerry the justice he needs.
The Rodgers Murder
Jerry is currently on parole, serving a 40-year sentence, for a 1993 murder that took place in a beauty salon in the south side of Chicago. According to the prosecution’s theory at trial, Jerry was a lookout, which made Jerry accountable for the crimes his fellow defendants committed. In 1994, a jury convicted Jerry, holding him accountable for the murder.
From the very beginning of his case, Jerry has claimed his innocence. After being picked up during a sweep in Englewood and transported to the police station by numerous officers, Jerry was held at Area One for nearly three days. If “Area One” rings a bell, that because it was the home of an outfit of brutal Chicago’s police detectives, including William Foley, Kenneth Boudreau, James O’Brien, John Halloran, James Cassidy, and Richard Paladino. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, this outfit has been responsible for a significant percentage of Chicago’s exonerations after defendants were convicted on false confessions. The detectives unrelentingly abused Jerry until he falsely confessed to involvement in the murder.
The Trial
At trial, the prosecution withheld statements from the man they alleged was the mastermind of the murder and the man who ordered Jerry to be a lookout. That man was never charged, though he did tell police that he never gave an order for the murder and denied any knowledge of Jerry Gillespie’s alleged involvement. Unfortunately, Jerry was unlucky enough to have the ineffective assistance of counsel in more than one stage of his legal proceedings. His attorneys did not investigate the clear holes in the police reports and did not locate potential witnesses. By the time his current attorney, Andrea Lyon, took Jerry’s case and corroborated Jerry’s story, his claims of actual innocence had “procedurally defaulted.” In other words, Jerry’s ability to present any evidence of his actual innocence was barred by the court on a technicality regarding when he presented the issue.
This technicality persisted even in the face of actual evidence: in 2007 and 2008, the two actual murders wrote out and signed sworn affidavits admitting their crimes and corroborating Jerry’s claim that he had nothing to do with the murderers. Unfortunately, Jerry has sought help from every legal avenue to no avail. The legal system has failed. He needs our help. Jerry’s attorney, his mother, Maxine Franklin, and the rest of Jerry’s family want justice for Jerry. An innocent man sat in prison for two decades. Can you help?