Overview

• A Cook County judge vacated Herrington’s 1991 conviction in March, clearing him of Vera Brown’s murder after he served 29 years behind bars.
• On July 29 Herrington filed a federal civil rights lawsuit naming the City of Chicago, Chicago Police Department detectives and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office as defendants.
• The complaint alleges that officers under former Commander Jon Burge coerced another man into falsely identifying Herrington and fabricated reports of a confession he never gave.
• The Exoneration Project led the effort to secure Herrington’s exoneration earlier this year and underscores growing demands for accountability for Burge-era abuses.
• Chicago’s law department declined to comment on the pending litigation, citing policy against remarks on active cases.