Stanley Wrice

Stanley Wrice spent over three decades in prison for a kidnapping and rape in Chicago he did not commit. Arrested in 1982, he was convicted based on a confession he later said was coerced through brutal beatings by Chicago police officers Peter Dignan and John Byrne, who worked under notorious commander Jon Burge. Wrice’s motion to suppress the confession was denied, and the trial relied on eyewitness testimony that was later recanted.

A post-conviction petition brought by the Bonjean Law Group, alongside support from the Chicago Innocence Project, highlighted the torture and false testimony. In December 2013, following a hearing ordered by the Illinois Supreme Court, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Richard Walsh vacated Wrice’s conviction, noting the unrebutted evidence of torture and recanted witness statements. Wrice was released after more than 31 years behind bars, having spent more than half his life wrongfully imprisoned.

In the news ————

Featured Press CBS Chicago • Mar 3, 2020

Jury awards $5.2 million to Stanley Wrice, who says he was beaten into a false rape confession

A Cook County jury awarded Stanley Wrice more than $5 million in a lawsuit alleging that detectives under Jon Burge tortured him into giving a false confession — compensation for decades lost after wrongful conviction. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}

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Featured Press Injustice Watch • Mar 10, 2020

The Stanley Wrice jury returns

Injustice Watch details the federal civil jury deliberations in the Wrice case, discussing how Chicago’s legal team defended against allegations that police torture produced Wrice’s coerced confession. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}

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Featured Press Chicago Tribune • Mar 3, 2020

Jury awards more than $5 million to man who contends torture by Burge detectives led to false confession

The Chicago Tribune reports on a federal jury’s award to Stanley Wrice, who spent over three decades in prison after a confession he said was coerced by officers under notorious commander Jon Burge. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

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