DePaul University COLLEGE OF LAW

25 E. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, Il 60604

(312) 362-8701

Warren D. Wolfson
Distinguished Visiting Professor of Law

April 24, 2014

Honorable Anita Alvarez
States Attorney of Cook County
69 W. Washington, Suite 3200
Chicago, Illinois 60602
RE: People v. Willie Johnson, 11CR-13172
BY MESSENGER
Dear States Attorney Alvarez:
I am writing on behalf of myself and 22 other former judges and prosecutors (listed below) to
express concern about the perjury prosecution your office is pursuing against Willie Johnson,
one of three young men who were shotMr. Johnson was the only survivoron April 21, 1992,
near the corner of Harding Avenue and Augusta Boulevard in Chicago.
Although the accounts Mr. Johnson provided under oath at the 1994 trial of two defendants
convicted of the shooting and at a 2011 hearing on their petitions for post-conviction relief
cannot both be true, we believe the prosecution of Mr. Johnson is contrary to the interests of
justice. Mr. Johnsons conviction would chill future witness recantations, thereby depriving those
who stand convicted of crimes they may not have committed of a fair opportunity to obtain postconviction relief. Thus, in our view, it is in the interest of justice to encouragerather than to
chillrecantations that may be truthful.
As you know, recantations have proved true in a number of Cook County cases over the last
quarter century, beginning with the case of Gary Dotson, in which his accuser recanted her trial
testimony and was not believeduntil the recantation was proven true when Mr. Dotson was
exonerated by DNA testing in 1989. Mr. Dotson received a gubernatorial pardon based on
innocence in 2002.
Other Cook County recantation cases in which defendants have been declared innocentthrough
either pardons based on innocence or certificates of innocence from the Circuit Courtwere
those of Jonathan Barr, Eric Caine, James Harden, Dana Holland, Thaddeus Jimenez, James
Kluppelberg, Deon Patrick, Aaron Patterson, Jacques Rivera, Daniel Taylor, Robert Taylor,
Robert Wilson, and the men known as the Ford Heights Four.
We fully appreciate that perjury is a significant problem in the criminal justice system, although
probably more so during grand jury proceedings and trials than during post-conviction
proceedings.

STATES ATTORNEY ALVAREZ

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The perjury problem of course should be addressed forcefullybut public policy should
encourage truthful, and discourage untruthful, recantations. Unfortunately, the prosecution of
Mr. Johnson stands to discourage recantations in generaltruthful as well as untruthful. A
preferable policy would be to prosecute perjury only in cases in which it can be proved beyond a
reasonable doubt that a recantation, as opposed to prior testimony, is false. In other words, we
believe that no perjury prosecution should be based simply on the fact that a recantation
materially contradicts a witnesss previous testimony.
We hope you will agree and will issue a policy directive to your assistants to pursue perjury
charges in recantation cases only when the recantation is provably perjured. If, in your judgment,
Mr. Johnsons case qualifies under that criterion, the prosecution should proceed. If not, the case
should be dismissed.
We appreciate your attention to this matter and would appreciate hearing from you at your
earliest convenience.
Sincerely,

Warren D. Wolfson
Former Judge, Illinois Appellate Court, First District;
Former Judge, Cook County Circuit Court
Also on behalf of the following:
Stuart J. Chanen
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois
Tyrone C. Fahner
Former Attorney General of Illinois;
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois
Michael J. Falconer
Former Assistant Lake County
States Attorney
Kenneth L. Gillis
Former Judge, Cook County Circuit Court;
Former First Assistant Cook County
States Attorney

Mary Brigid Hayes

Former Assistant Illinois Attorney
General; Former Assistant Cook
County States Attorney
Gary V. Johnson
Former Kane County
States Attorney
George N. Leighton
Former Judge, United States District Court,
Northern District of Illinois; Former Judge,
Illinois Appellate Court, First District;
Former Judge, Cook County Circuit Court
Lori E. Lightfoot
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois

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PAGE 3
Jeremy D. Margolis
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois

Jeffrey Singer
Former Assistant Cook County
States Attorney

Abner J. Mikva
Former Judge, United States Court
of Appeals, District of Columbia

Raymond J. Smith
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois

Jorge Montes
Former Assistant Cook County
States Attorney

Jeanette Sublet
Former Assistant Cook County
States Attorney

Sheila M. Murphy
Former Judge, Cook County Circuit Court

James R. Thompson
Former United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois

Nan Nolan
Former United States Magistrate Judge,
Northern District of Illinois
Dom J. Rizzi
Former Judge, Illinois Appellate Court,
First District
Ronald S. Safer
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois

Scott Turow
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois
Dan K. Webb
Former United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois
Sheldon T. Zenner
Former Assistant United States Attorney,
Northern District of Illinois