Potential Brady Ruling in 35-year-old Burge-era case could lead to new trial

Chicago, IL – The Leighton Courthouse in Chicago, known by most people as simply “26th and California,” is the court that handles most of Cook County’s felony cases. On October 29, a dramatic hearing took place in Courtroom 304, involving a 35-year-old case of a man tortured into a confession by a police detective from the Jon Burge gang of cops.

In 1991, 15-year-old Johnny Plummer was picked up as a suspect in a murder, taken to the Chicago Police Area Three Detective Division, and questioned for a day and a half without being allowed to see his mother. Beaten around the face and stomach, he confessed to a crime he didn’t commit. He is now 50 years old, having spent 35 years behind bars.

Plummer has always maintained he was tortured by Detectives Kenneth Boudreau and Michael Kill. For many years, he has spoken about a doctor who did an intake interview with him when he was brought to the Audy Juvenile home. The doctor then wrote Johnny’s report in his notes.

The Chicago police and the state’s attorney’s office had claimed for 35 years that no such notes existed. Plummer’s legal team, including Karl Leonard of the Exoneration Project, now have reason for optimism. In April, those medical examiner’s notes were sent to the Exoneration Project lawyers from the State’s Attorney’s Office.

Judge Tyria Walton deemed the evidence significant enough to grant a post-conviction evidentiary hearing. 

Where were those intake notes?

October 29 was the fourth hearing, and the main witness was attorney Joey Mogul. Mogul represented Plummer from 2012 to 2021. She is well known as a relentless fighter for the torture survivors from the era of the Jon Burge ring of racist CPD detectives.

Attorney Leonard questioned Mogul on the stand about her extensive experience with the materials in Plummer’s case. He asked her about files gained in the ten years she represented Plummer.

Mogul testified that when she started to represent Plummer, the presiding judge, Vincent Gaughan, had granted a petition to provide materials from the public defender’s office; from the first special prosecutors, Egan and Boyle; and the common law documents or transcripts from any proceedings Plummer had been in.

The medical notes weren’t to be found in any of those files. She never saw those notes until April 2026.

How significant are the medical records?

Mogul explained that, as a result, for years it was just Plummer’s word against the police.

Leonard asked about the significance that 15-year-old Johnny was interrogated on August 18 and 19 and then spoke to the doctor on August 22. 

Mogul replied, “Johnny was interrogated August 18 and 19, and then he was interviewed by the physician on August 22 , only three days later. This was prompt outcry evidence! This would have been huge had it been available.”

Leonard said, “If you had it?” And Mogul replied, “We would have cited it and attached it in a post-conviction appeal.”

Prompt outcry evidence refers to the first report made by a victim to another person shortly after the incident occurred.

Prosecution’s fear of a Brady Ruling

Special Prosecutor Myles O’Rourke then spent an equal amount of time asking questions about the proceedings in which Mogul defended Plummer, as well as those before Mogul became Plummer’s attorney. 

Attorney Leonard objected repeatedly to the questioning, for example when O’Rourke asked Mogul for her recollection of an 89-page document on torture that had been submitted almost a decade ago.

The judge overruled Leonard multiple times, finally remarking to the court, “We know it’s because of the potential Brady ruling that the state is using this line of questioning.”

A Brady violation is when prosecutors fail to disclose impeaching evidence to the defense. If the court finds there was a Brady violation, it could result in awarding Plummer a new trial, or even the overturning of his conviction.

Defenders of torture cops facing multiple defeats

Seeing Johnny Plummer walk free would be a blow to Boudreau and the other Burge-era torturers, but there’s a broader crisis for the criminals in the Chicago Police Department.

Under the leadership of Mayor Brandon Johnson, on October 14, the Chicago City Council unanimously approved a $260 million settlement for 17 men who were wrongfully convicted by former Police Detective Reynaldo Guevara. Many of these cases have been covered for decades in the pages of Fight Back!, including Johnny Flores, Juan and Rosendo Hernandez, and Edwin Ortiz.

There has been a wave of protests led by the Immigrant Rights Working Committee of the Chicago Alliance Against Racist and Political Repression (CAARPR) to end the practice of CPD collaboration with ICE agents since Trump launched his Midway Blitz in 2025.

Most recently, CAARPR’s Labor Committee has said that the Cook County Board of Commissioners should stop payment for special prosecutor O’Rourke’s firm for defending the Burge-era torture cops. Research by attorneys from the Exoneration Project has found that over $11 million has been paid to O’Rourke’s firm in the past 17 years to defend the likes of Boudreau.

Finally, Jasmine Smith, head of CAARPR’s Campaign to Free Incarcerated Survivors of Police Torture (CFIST), said, “We are also continuing our fight to get Governor Pritzker to grant clemency to the hundreds of proven survivors of police torture and wrongful conviction who are still incarcerated in Illinois.”

“We want justice for all the wrongfully convicted!”

#ChicagoIL #IL #JohnnyPlummer #InjusticeSystem #WrongfulConviction #PoliceTorture #CFIST #CAARPR #Featured

Source: https://fightbacknews.org/potential-brady-ruling-in-35-year-old-burge-era-case-could-lead-to-new-trial?pk_campaign=rss-feed