DKSuddeth
Senior Member
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tm...16/ap_on_el_st_lo/wrongly_convicted_candidate
Ex-Death Row Inmate Runs for Ill. House
Mon Dec 15, 7:13 PM ET
By RYAN KEITH, Associated Press Writer
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Less than a year after being released from death row, Aaron Patterson is running for the Legislature with a pledge to change some of the laws he says wrongly put him behind bars.
Patterson filed Monday to run in the March primary. He'll face Rep. Patricia Bailey, a fellow Democrat in her first term serving Chicago's southwest side.
Patterson was one of four men pardoned in January as part of then-Gov. George Ryan's historic clearing of death row in his final days in office. Patterson, who was convicted of killing an elderly Chicago couple in 1986, spent 17 years on death row, despite his claims police tortured him into confessing to the crime.
"I feel like the very laws that put me on death row, I want to go down there and change them," Patterson said in a telephone interview.
He received a $161,500 settlement from the state for his faulty conviction and has filed a $30 million federal lawsuit against police officers and others involved in his case.
Patterson, 39, is a former gang leader with a prior record for gang activities. Illinois law allows former criminals to run for state office once they've served their sentence.
Patterson's agenda includes abolishing the death penalty, cracking down on police misconduct and investigating the cases of other inmates who claim they were wrongfully convicted.
Bailey did not return a telephone message Monday afternoon.
Patterson worries that his candidacy may be challenged because state law requires candidates to live in the district for at least two years before running for office. The prison is in Pontiac.
Dan White of the State Board of Elections said he's unaware of any similar case coming before the board and any challenges would first be handled by local election authorities.
Ex-Death Row Inmate Runs for Ill. House
Mon Dec 15, 7:13 PM ET
By RYAN KEITH, Associated Press Writer
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - Less than a year after being released from death row, Aaron Patterson is running for the Legislature with a pledge to change some of the laws he says wrongly put him behind bars.
Patterson filed Monday to run in the March primary. He'll face Rep. Patricia Bailey, a fellow Democrat in her first term serving Chicago's southwest side.
Patterson was one of four men pardoned in January as part of then-Gov. George Ryan's historic clearing of death row in his final days in office. Patterson, who was convicted of killing an elderly Chicago couple in 1986, spent 17 years on death row, despite his claims police tortured him into confessing to the crime.
"I feel like the very laws that put me on death row, I want to go down there and change them," Patterson said in a telephone interview.
He received a $161,500 settlement from the state for his faulty conviction and has filed a $30 million federal lawsuit against police officers and others involved in his case.
Patterson, 39, is a former gang leader with a prior record for gang activities. Illinois law allows former criminals to run for state office once they've served their sentence.
Patterson's agenda includes abolishing the death penalty, cracking down on police misconduct and investigating the cases of other inmates who claim they were wrongfully convicted.
Bailey did not return a telephone message Monday afternoon.
Patterson worries that his candidacy may be challenged because state law requires candidates to live in the district for at least two years before running for office. The prison is in Pontiac.
Dan White of the State Board of Elections said he's unaware of any similar case coming before the board and any challenges would first be handled by local election authorities.
