Destroy/conceal/fabricate evidenceForced confessionTortureFalse arrest or reportPhysical forceNightstickOther charges filedHospitalized
Plaintiff:
Ronald Kitchen
Incident date:
08/25/1988
Location:
3900 S California Ave.
Allegations:
In August 1988, Kitchen, an African-American man, was arrested for the murders of two women and three children. The case was extensively covered by the media and put pressure on police to quickly solve it. Kitchen was not the killer, but officers, including Lt. Burge, fabricated evidence to charge him with the crimes. On the night of his arrest, Kitchen was taken to a police station. For 16 hours, officers deprived him of food and sleep; subjected him to repeated acts of extreme physical abuse, primarily by Burge; taunted and subjected him to racial epithets and refused to allow him to speak to an attorney. Ultimately, the officers coerced Kitchen into signing a statement that implicated him and another individual in the murders. Kitchen spent 21 years in prison, 13 under the death sentence, for five murders he did not commit and to which he had no connection. In August 2009, Kitchen was exonerated and granted a Certificate of Innocence.