By Rummana Hussain
The Chicago Sun-Times
CHICAGO — Former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge told U.S. District Judge Joan Lefkow on Wednesday that he intends to take the stand at his perjury and obstruction-of-justice trial.
Burge, who has been accused of torturing criminal suspects and lying about it in a civil lawsuit, will specifically testify that he was not at Area 2 headquarters when convicted cop killer Andrew Wilson said he was beaten and strewn across a hot radiator in February 1982, Burge’s attorney, Marc Martin, said.
Burge, 62, also plans to say that a swarm of media -- who were covering the slayings of Officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien at the time -- would have heard Wilson’s screams if he actually had been beaten, Martin said.
Prosecutors spent days questioning witnesses who described injuries that Wilson allegedly suffered while being tortured. Wilson died in prison in 2007 while serving a life sentence for the high-profile murders.
After Wednesday’s testimony, Martin told Lefkow about Burge’s “desire” to testify.
When Lefkow asked Burge if he understood that he would be subject to cross examination and that he has the right not to testify, Burge said, “Yes, your honor.” Burge said he also discussed the risks involved should he testify.
“How are you holding up?” Lefkow asked Burge.
“Marvelously,” the former lieutenant responded.
Earlier Wednesday, renowned forensic pathologist and medical examiner Michael Baden opined that the marks on Wilson’s face and chest following his arrest were old scratches and not fresh burns caused by a radiator.
Baden, who studied photographs of Wilson using a magnifying glass, said the only burns on Wilson appeared to be the second-degree injuries on his right thigh that he gauged could have been anywhere from 12 hours to three days old at the time the pictures were taken.
Baden also said “puncture” type marks on Wilson’s inner ear could have been caused by alligator clips, but then dismissed the probability because he believed the devices would be hard to attach at that part of the body.
However, during cross examination, Justice Department prosecutor Betsy Biffl placed an alligator clip on the inner ear of her flinching colleague, David Weisman, to prove Baden wrong. The doctor smiled.
“In New York City, that would be sexual harassment,” said Baden, who will be paid $27,000 by the defense.
After the jury was dismissed Wednesday, Burge’s attorneys indicated they wanted to call Gregory Banks -- another Burge accuser -- as a witness.
Banks, a witness for the prosecution, testified last week that in 1983, Burge’s underlings had beaten him with a flashlight, kicked him, put a gun in his mouth and suffocated him with a plastic bag. But one of those officers, Sgt. John Byrne, then served as Banks’ attorney on a burglary case 10 years later, Burge’s attorney William Gamboney revealed.
“He wouldn’t hire an attorney who beat him with a flashlight years before,” Gamboney said.
Although prosecutors said they disclosed the information months ago, Burge’s attorneys said they didn’t discover it until Tuesday.
Lefkow eventually refused their motion to call Banks as a witness.
“It’s kind of a stretch,” the judge said. “It isn’t new material.
Photo: Rich Hein, Sun-Times; Former police Cmdr. Jon Burge leaves federal court Tuesday in his perjury case.
Copyright 2010 Chicago Sun-Times, Inc.