Settlement in wrongful confession case

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CHICAGO, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- Chicago should pay a $950,000 settlement to a man who says police tortured him into confessing to rape in 1951, the board of aldermen says.

The board's finance committee recommended Monday the city accept the settlement with Oscar Walden Jr., the Chicago Tribune reported. The board also wants to accept settlements of $425,000 and $575,000 with two men convicted of murder.

Walden, 80, who is black, said police officers beat him into confessing to a sexual assault on a white woman in 1951. He spent 14 years in prison and was pardoned in 2003 by Gov. George Ryan.

"It appears he won't be on the green side of the grass much longer. He might as well get what he can while he can get it," Edward Burke, chairman of the finance committee, said. "American justice, huh?"

The city council is to vote Wednesday on the settlements.

In Walden's case, the police officers involved and the rape victim are all dead.