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Former police officer Howard Morgan faces opposition to clemency petition

By LaRisa Lynch | Last updated: Jul 16, 2015 - 5:50:31 PM

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Howard and Rosalind Morgan address community, supporters and reporters in downtown Chicago, flanked by community activists Zakiyyah Muhammad and Kareem Ali.

CHICAGO- Rosalind Morgan was unfazed July 8 by the large contingent of Chicago police officers dotting the room where the Illinois Prisoners Review Board (IPRB) held a hearing for her husband’s executive clemency petition.

The police presence including that of Superintendent Garry McCarthy signaled ardent opposition to the clemency petition of Howard Morgan, a former Chicago Police officer, convicted in 2012 of attempted murder of four fellow officers.

“I am not intimidated by them,” Rosalind Morgan said. “I know my husband is innocent, and I have the faith and the knowing that God protects us and no weapon formed against us is going to prosper.”

Her husband was convicted of attempted murder charges against four White police officers, who stopped Morgan for a traffic violation on his way home from work on Feb. 21 2005. That stop ended with Mr. Morgan, who is Black and at the time, worked as a railroad detective, being shot 28 times, 21 of them in the back.

Mr. Morgan was sentenced to 40 years in prison after prosecutors alleged he fired a gun a total of 17 times wounding the officers. In January outgoing Gov. Pat Quinn commuted Howard Morgan’s sentence to time served, a move that riled the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County Attorney’s Office. The commutation came after a 10-year campaign to clear Howard Morgan’s name.

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Howard Morgan (front row, left), Mr. Morgan’s attorney, Larry Redmond (right) speaks, along with (back row, left) Kareem Ali and Melvin Hunter, childhood friend of Howard Morgan. Photos: Haroon Rajaee

The July clemency hearing is part of a long road to seek justice for Howard Morgan, which now lies in Gov. Bruce Rauner’s hands. Earlier this month Rauner granted five clemency petitions while rejecting 153 others. The action hardly makes a dent in the backlog of nearly 3,000 petitions Gov. Rauner inherited from previous administrations—some dating back to 2006.

Attorneys for Howard Morgan are seeking a petition for clemency with expungement, based on a claim of innocence. The petition hinges on the fact that double jeopardy played a role in Mr. Morgan’s 2012 conviction. Originally tried in 2007, he was acquitted of firing a weapon and a mistrial was declared on the more serious charges that included four counts of attempted murder.

Attorney Larry Redmond said it was absurd for Mr. Morgan to face a second trial on the latter charges when he was acquitted of firing a weapon. But that information was never disclosed to the jurors in the second trail.

“They kept that information out, but the fact is he was acquitted of firing his firearm during the first trail and that solves everything,” Atty. Redmond said. “You can’t attempt to murder someone with a firearm if you are acquitted of firing that firearm.”

Mr. Morgan’s attorneys are seeking clemency to pursue federal civil actions against the city— something that cannot be done as a convicted felon.

“The commutation of his sentence merely gets him out of prison, but he is still technically a convicted felon and we want to change that because he’s innocent,” Atty. Redmond said.

For Mr. Morgan, who testified during the more than two-hour hearing, it’s a matter of his innocence. 

“I want to clear my name and re-establish my life,” he said.

IPRB makes a recommendation on clemency petitions, but the final decision is determined by the governor. But board chair Craig Findley was critical of the way Howard Morgan’s commutation was handled.

Mr. Findley said requests for pardons begin with the board, which he said did not happen here.  He called it a “disservice” that the board was not notified of Mr. Morgan’s intent to seek commutation.

“The process, I think, was not proper and does trouble this board greatly,” Mr. Findley said.

Mr. Morgan’s legal team dismissed the concern saying its governor’s prerogative to grant any judicial relief. They, however, applauded former Gov. Quinn’s courage to commute Morgan’s sentence even though it rankled political feathers.

“The decision Gov. Quinn made to commute Mr. Morgan’s sentence cannot be overturned, which is why it is appears that the current board is very upset,” said Cherese Williams, of Chicago Alliance Against Racism and Political Repression, who also serves on Mr. Morgan’s legal team. “But they do not possess more authority than the governor. They crucified Mr. Morgan in that room based on the decision that the governor made and set the tone for today’s hearing.”

That tone shifted when the prosecutor who represented the four police officers seemed to retry the case during the hearing. Dan Groth, a prosecutor in the case, showed board members Mr. Morgan’s x-ray film to refute claims he’d been shot 28 times. Atty. Groth also played police dispatch recordings of the frantic shouts of “shots fired,” “officer down” and “I need an ambulance.”

“Howard Morgan is not the victim here,” Atty. Groth said. “He is responsible for every gunshot wound that was received that night … and moreover he is responsible for every wound that he received.”

Three of the four officers involved in the incident attended the hearing and read statements urging the board to reject Mr. Morgan’s clemency petition. Officer Nicholas Olsen, who allegedly was shot in the arm that night, called Mr. Morgan “a con man who attempted to murder four police officers.”

“The only thing he deserves is to sit in prison for the next 39 years,” Ofc. Olsen said.

“Any miscarriage of justice weighs heavily on the police and the community,” Police Superintendent McCarthy added. “In this case, I think it is critical that the board comes to the right conclusion.”

Atty. Redmond called the tactic a move to intimidate Mr. Morgan and his supporters.

“They are trying to show solidarity. They are trying to demonstrate that the police hang together, but the bottom line is nobody is scared of them,” said Atty. Redmond. “They were trying to influence the board.”

Rosiland Morgan called Atty. Groth’s comments “inhumane.”

“That’s an evil man,” she said. “For someone to say that is inhuman. But the words that [Groth] spoke out of his mouth, he doesn’t know what God can turn around and do to him.”

It’s a waiting game now. The governor is not bound by any time frame to make a decision or even obligated to grant Howard Morgan’s petition, Ms. Williams said. But his attorneys urge supporters to continue to fight for justice which eventually led to Mr. Morgan’s commutation.

“If the current governor decides to not grant it, we will continue to file it until it’s granted,” Ms. Williams said. “That’s why it is very important for people to continue to stand in solidary with Mr. Morgan; to continue to support his innocence, to continue to reach out to the governor’s office with letters and phone calls.”