Taylor v. City of Chicago et al.

Daniel Taylor was convicted of a brutal homicide that he did not commit. Arrested at age 17, Mr. Taylor spent more than 20 years in prison before he was ultimately exonerated. Mr. Taylor was in police custody on a disorderly conduct charge at the time of the murder and did not bond out until well after the crimes were committed. Nonetheless, determined to close the murder cases, the Chicago Police Department officers coerced false confessions from Mr. Taylor and hid exculpatory evidence that would have conclusively proven Mr. Taylor’s innocence.

Unfortunately, the misconduct that caused Mr. Taylor ’s wrongful conviction was not an isolated incident.

To the contrary, the Chicago Police Department, including officers working within the Department Area where this investigation occurred, engaged in a pattern of unlawfully coercing confessions over a period of years, frequently preying on young African-American men in order to close unsolved cases through overzealous methods of interrogation.

Likewise, the City of Chicago also has a pattern and practice of withholding exculpatory evidence in the Chicago Police Department “street files” from the courts, prosecutors and defendants, just as was done here.

Although Mr. Taylor has won back his freedom, he will never regain the decades lost in his life. This lawsuit sought redress for those injuries. In May 2022, Mr. Taylor had his civil settlement of $14.25 million approved by the Chicago City Council.