George Ryan deposition sheds light on his Death Row decision
By Natasha Korecki and Dave McKinney Staff Reporters February 28, 2011 2:04PM
Updated: August 4, 2011 4:20PM
It was a brief exchange, but the question was pointed: “Are you going to kill my son?”
From federal prison in Terre Haute, Ind., former Gov. George Ryan, in what’s believed to be the first deposition he’s given about his historic 2003 clemency decision, said the question posed by a onetime classmate led to his move to clear out Death Row.
In a 2010 interview with lawyers, a sometimes combative, sometimes joking Ryan spoke at length about his clemency decision in response to a civil lawsuit, a newly released deposition shows. “A little prison food would probably be good for all of you. I think it’s baloney for lunch today,” Ryan tells attorneys at one point.
The Chicago Sun-Times last week revealed portions of Ryan’s deposition. The imprisoned former governor was compelled to answer a series of questions about why he granted an innocence pardon to Oscar Walden Jr., who was suing the City of Chicago for coercion in federal court.
In response to a freedom of information request, the city released Ryan’s deposition Monday.
While Ryan stuck to much of what he’s said previously regarding his decision, at times he revealed a personal side.
One of the cases he considered involved the son of a onetime high school classmate. The son was on Death Row for shooting a police officer. Ryan didn’t name the inmate, but said he bumped into the classmate at a meeting.
“That was a big impact on my decision, that statement in that meeting, that confrontation,” Ryan said.
As he mulled whether to commute the sentences of 167 inmates on Death Row, Ryan said he withstood ridicule from the family of victims, who were “just brutal.”
“They threw stuff at me when I stood on the podium and swore at me and, you know, called me all kinds of names,” Ryan said.
At one point, Ryan admitted spending as little as 10 minutes on petitions but at another point he said he burned the midnight oil pondering cases.
Ryan appeared to keep up with the news while behind bars, making reference to current pardon decisions. He noted there is a “Big backlog there now. [Gov.] Quinn has got to clear it out. [Rod] Blagojevich didn’t do anything.”
Ryan spoke of another event that propelled him to clear out Death Row and offer a slew of pardons before he left office. He cited the case of Andrew Porter, who faced death, but then was released from prison after 15 years following work by Northwestern University’s Innocence Project.
“I turned to my wife, and I said, how the hell does that happen?” Ryan said. “How does an innocent man sit on Death Row for 15 years? . . . And that piqued my interest, Anthony Porter. And I followed that case right through to commutation of 167 guys. I thought it was 177. Whatever it was. And that’s what triggered me. I still can’t believe it.”
City Law Department spokeswoman Jennifer Hoyle said that the city also fought a civil case filed by Porter — successfully.
“Like Walden, Porter was pardoned on the basis of innocence, then filed a lawsuit against the city and police officers,” Hoyle said Monday. “We took the case to trial and won.”
Ryan, 77, who has sought release from prison since his wife’s illness last year, sometimes grew short-tempered in his interview.
“I’m concerned that you may leave here and put out a press release and take me out of context on something I may have said. It happens a lot in my business,” he said.
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