On December 3, 1985, Detective Foley and two
other detectives came to my father’s house and
asked me if I mind going to the police station to help
them with their investigation. I told them that I would
not mind.
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Court
orders new hearing for Death Row inmate
By
John O'Connor - Associated Press Writer Published
October 25, 2001, 2:23 PM CDT
SPRINGFIELD -- Before
Howard Wiley was sentenced to death for a triple murder, a judge
should have heard about
his mental health problems and, from family members, his attributes,
the Illinois Supreme
Court ruled today.
Wiley was convicted of the murder of three women in a Chicago apartment in 1985 in a dispute involving money. Wiley claimed he and another man staged a fake robbery to get the money, but the other man panicked and shot the women.
The court today dismissed
Wiley’s claim that there was insufficient evidence to warrant
capital punishment.
But it upheld Wiley’s claim that his lawyer did not discuss strategy with him for avoiding the death penalty and that his mitigating evidence might have convinced a judge not to impose death.
``We cannot say, as a
matter of law, that the outcome of the sentencing hearing would have
been the same had the
additional pieces of evidence been discovered and presented by trial
counsel,’’ Justice Charles
Freeman wrote in the opinion of the court.
Wiley said his lawyer
did not bring forward his daughter and sisters to testify that Wiley was
good-natured, always
employed when not in prison, and deeply saddened when his wife left him
and his mother got cancer.
A medical professional would have testified that Wiley cannot handle extreme sadness and even loses awareness of what is going on around him.
Justices Robert Thomas and Mary Ann McMorrow dissented, saying evidence linking Wiley to the murders and his lengthy criminal history would have outweighed favorable testimony from family or a medical history.
Chief Justice Moses Harrison and Justice Thomas Kilbride dissented, saying Wiley should get a new trial because he was convicted before safeguards against wrongful conviction were in place. They also said the state failed to prove Wiley guilty of armed robbery, a second felony that made him eligible for death.
Copyright © 2001,
The Associated Press
Faked Into Confessing By Chicago Police
On December 3, 1985, Detective Foley and two
other detectives came to my father’s house and
asked me if I mind going to the police station to help
them with their investigation. I told them that I would
not mind.
Immediately after arriving at Area 3 headquarters,
the detectives escorted me to an interrogation room.
Soon after, Detective Rockowicz, Duffin and Foley
entered the room. Detective Rockowicz asked me
questions concerning my name and how long I had
known the murdered victims. I told him ever since
1965. Detective Foley walked over to me and started asking me questions,
and all of a sudden, he told me that I knew who killed those people and
I had
better tell them. I told him I did not know anything and that I was only
there
to assist them as much as I could.
On December 4, Detective Ptak told me I could now be charged with
robbery and three counts of murder, and my wife and mother-in-law and my
wife’s nephew could be charged with concealing a homicide.
That evening, State’s Attorney Michael Gerber arrived. Soon after,
Detective Duffin entered the interrogation room with a wet brown paper
towel and told me to wipe my hands with it. I did as he instructed and
then
gave the paper towel back to him. He left the room and when he returned,
he told me that he ran a gunpowder residue test, and the test results were
positive.
After talking to Mr. Gerber for awhile, I asked him if I could see my wife.
He asked me if I would give a court-reported statement, and I told him
yes
(earlier that day Gerber told me that he had sent someone to pick up my
wife). He then leaned back in his chair toward the door and yelled out,
"Hold
off on that arrest report on Wiley’s wife."
The court reporter finally arrived. By this time, I had put together things
that
I believed they wanted to hear, so as Gerber asked me questions, I gave
him
fabrications as he went along. Long before completing my statement, I told
Gerber that I was tired and asked him if I could finish giving my statement
the next day. He told me that if I wanted to see and talk to my wife and
prevent her from going to jail, I would have to give a full court-reported
statement first.
Apparently, I told him what he wanted to hear. I gave him a motive and
implicated myself in the crime. My coerced confession (i.e., my conscious
effort to protect my family in a highly emotional state while under duress)
was the major evidence used to convict me.
State’s Attorney Gerber finally told me that my wife was never picked up
and brought to the station. He walked out of the door and told the shift
commander, "Let’s get out of here before Wiley changes his mind."
If anyone has questions or would like to correspond, I would be happy to
receive your letters. Please write me at:
Howard Wiley A80048
P.O. Box 99
Pontiac, IL 61764
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