CHICAGO (AP) — Prosecutors have dropped charges against two men who say Chicago police detectives beat them into confessing to a 1989 killing.
Cook County Judge Alfredo Maldonado on Tuesday formally tossed convictions against Corey Batchelor and Kevin Bailey, both age 48. Batchelor was paroled in 2004. Bailey could be released as early as Tuesday afternoon after nearly 30 years behind bars.
Attorneys for the men say many of the detectives trained under disgraced former Chicago police Cmdr. Jon Burge, who was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2010.
Bailey and Batchelor were 19-years-old and had no criminal histories when they were arrested in the stabbing death of a retired police officer’s wife. Prosecutors said Tuesday that the evidence against the men doesn’t meet the burden of beyond a reasonable doubt.
