Man Free After 21 Years In Jail; Claims Cops Tortured Him As Teen

CHICAGO, IL — A man who has served 21 years in prison for a double murder could be free as early as Friday after a state board determined his claims he was tortured by Chicago cops during a police interrogation as a teen had merit. Jaime Hauad, 37, alleged that officers beat him and cut off the toes of his sneakers while he was questioned in the gang-related shootings in 1997, according to the Chicago Tribune. He was 17 at the time.

During a hearing Thursday, the Cook County state's attorney's office agreed to resentence Hauad for time served, the report stated. The agreement and release, however, do not erase the murder convictions for Hauad, who has said he is innocent. His lawyers told the Chicago Sun-Times that they will pursue a certificate of exoneration.

"I want to thank the state’s attorney’s for the investigation and giving back my life," Hauad said in court.

According to Hauad, police cut the tips of his shoes with an industrial paper cutter, then threatened to use it to cut off his toes unless he confessed to the fatal shootings, the Sun-Times reports. He said he eventually provided a false alibi — that he had been in jail at the time of the murders — after he was allegedly beaten by officers, a fabrication that was used against him in court to gain convictions, the report added.

Hauad was able to smuggle out the damaged shoes to his mother, and the sneakers — along with police lineup photos before and after his interrogation — were used to help support the torture allegations, the Tribune reports. Last year, the Illinois Torture and Relief Commission ruled there was sufficient and credible evidence that Hauad had been tortured, the report added.

Following his conviction in the double murder, Hauad had been sentenced to life in prison.

More via the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Sun-Times

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