Jan. 26--A Chicago man sentenced to life in prison in connection with a gang-related triple slaying could get a new trial in Cook County Circuit Court after a state commission found substantial evidence he was tortured by Chicago police detectives in 1991.
Ivan Smith, 43, alleges two Chicago police detectives stretched him across a bench in a cafeteria of the Tipton County Jail in Tennessee, laid a phone book on his chest and beat it with a wooden stick until he agreed to confess to a triple homicide, according to the Illinois Torture Inquiry and Relief Commission. Smith said he was coached by one of the prosecutors on his 21-page statement.
The two detectives, James O'Brien and Joseph Stehlik, had served in Area 3, which was headed by disgraced former Cmdr. Jon Burge, though Burge was suspended a few days before the detectives interviewed Smith.
After considering one of the detective's lengthy history of complaints and another suspect who also accused police of abuse, the commission voted in November to refer Smith's case to a Cook County judge for a postconviction hearing.
At the hearing, Smith and his attorneys will appear before a judge to argue that his confession was coerced. A judicial ruling in Smith's favor would likely lead to a new trial in which both sides would be able to call witnesses, and the court would decide whether any evidence from the prior trial would be admissible.
About 260 cases have been submitted to the commission since its formation in 2009. Seventeen have been referred to a circuit court, 31 have been dismissed, 82 are pending and about 130 are believed to be outside of its jurisdiction.
Smith, who has been imprisoned since he was 20, was convicted of three counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in May 1994. Two of Smith's co-defendants also were found guilty and two others were acquitted.
On Aug. 7, 1991, Smith, a member of the Black Disciples gang, drove his gray Chevrolet Chevette by a building in the 6500 block of South Peoria Street, where gang members from the rival Gangster Disciples were selling drugs. Smith threw up gang signs and shouted gang slogans after which a Gangster Disciple on the third floor of the building shot his car. As Smith drove away, he shouted that he would be back, according to court documents.
Later that night, a taxi and a red Chrysler LeBaron slowly rolled by the building. Three people were shot, including 13-year-old Rhenardo Bussle, who died of a gunshot wound to the back.
A few minutes later, the same taxi was reportedly used in a second drive-by shooting nearby, in the 500 block of West 71st Street, where three people were shot, two fatally.
Police later found the taxi abandoned with the steering column peeled back and numerous shell casings strewn throughout the interior.
In testimony from Smith's co-defendants and one of the victims, Smith was tied to the car, though no physical evidence linked him to the cab.
Smith's attorneys Larry Dreyfus and Elliot Zinger characterized the confessions and witness testimony as "totally bogus" because of inconsistencies between the co-defendants regarding where each was sitting, including some testimony that put some in different cars altogether.
In November 1991, Smith was arrested at his mother's home in Ripley, Tenn. Five people traveled to Tipton County Jail for an extradition hearing: two Chicago police detectives, two prosecutors and a court reporter.
The extradition party's accounts sharply contrast from Smith's.
According to Smith, O'Brien slapped his face and hit him in the back of his head. When Smith didn't respond to another one of O'Brien's questions, O'Brien punched Smith in the chest. O'Brien then forced Smith's shoulders onto the bench, Stehlik laid a phone book on Smith's chest and they repeatedly struck it until Smith eventually agreed to cooperate and gave a statement to the court reporter.
O'Brien and Stehlik denied the accusations of mistreatment.
Though the commission acknowledged not all of Smith's claims were viewed as credible, they pointed to several troubling discrepancies in authorities' accounts of the visit.
Smith alleged it was roughly two hours before the court reporter took his statement. Some in the extradition party said there was a delay in taking Smith's statement because there wasn't a typewriter in the building, prompting them to have one brought from another county. However, a retired Tipton County sheriff said at that time there were several typewriters in the building and the court reporter said she did not recall a problem regarding a typewriter.
The commission also lent credence to 36 complaints filed against O'Brien, including one by George Anderson, who alleged Stehlik and O'Brien obtained his confession by using a pipe or hose to beat a phone book held over his chest. Anderson's case also has been referred to court for further judicial review.
In addition, a Cook County Jail guard testified that he wouldn't accept one of Smith's co-defendants into his wing of the jail because of bruises on his face and a noticeable limp. That defendant, who was among those acquitted, alleged he had been slapped in the face and kicked in his genitals during his interrogation.
tbriscoe@tribpub.com
