$40 Million Must be Paid by Illinois State Police: Must Pay Five Blacks Railroaded into Prison on False Charges of Rape and Murder — Confessions Were Illicited via Torture

Victims of Police Frame Up and Torture: Jonathan Barr, second from left, Robert
Taylor, James Harden, back, and Shainne Sharp, right.

By Joe Harris
Five men convicted, but later cleared, of a 1991 rape and murder have reached a $40 million settlement in a civil lawsuit with the Illinois State Police.

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Clear Case of Police Misconduct

The men were teenagers when they were arrested in connection to the death of Cateresa Matthews, a 14-year-old from Dixmoor in suburban Chicago.

Robert Taylor, James Harden and Jonathan Barr were freed in 2011 after 19 years in prison.
Shainne Sharp and Robert Veal were released after 10 years in prison after DNA evidence cleared them.

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Rape Case Get $40 Million

According to the plaintiffs' filings, at least one of the three who confessed was beaten by officers and all those who confessed were coerced and illegally taken advantage of by the officers who were under pressure to solve the case.

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