Justice for Savory

Recently, Johnnie Lee Savory and Steve Drizin, the Center on Wrongful Convictions' legal director, spoke at Northwestern University about their fight to get Illinois to test evidence in Johnnie's case for DNA.

You can listen to their talk on Innocence Speaks: the podcast of the Center on Wrongful Convictions.

Though forensic DNA testing is routine today, it didn’t exist when Johnnie was convicted in 1977.   The Center believes that DNA testing will not only exonerate Johnnie, but it will also identify the person who committed the murders for which Johnnie was sent to prison.

And yet, as The New York Times reported, Illinois has repeatedly refused to hand over this evidence "on the grounds that a jury was convinced of his guilt without DNA and that the 175 convicts already exonerated by DNA were 'statistically insignificant.'"

You can join Johnnie fight for justice today.  Take two minutes, e-mail Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, and ask him to order DNA testing for Johnnie Lee Savory.

In the United States, DNA evidence is used everyday to send people to prison.  Since the late 1980s, DNA evidence has also been used to exonerate more than 200 innocent men and women.  And yet, for more than 10 years, the State of Illinois has blocked DNA testing for Johnnie Lee Savory.

In 1977, when Johnnie was 14 years old, he was sent to prison for murdering his friend and his friend’s sister in their hometown of Peoria, Illinois.  Johnnie’s conviction rests on a foundation that has crumbled.  The key witnesses in his case have recanted their testimony, telling authorities that police had pressured them to lie about Johnnie.  

DNA testing didn’t exist when Johnnie was convicted more than 30 years ago.  If it had, the evidence would have been tested as part of routine police procedure.   

Given these facts, The New York Times recently asked, why the state has persistently refused to grant this testing? 

Only Peoria County State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons knows.  However, given his previous attempts to justify his actions, it is unlikely that he can offer a reasonable explanation.  

When asked by the Chicago Sun-Times why he opposes testing for Johnnie, Lyons said that "as a prosecutor, I understand that justice is the most important objective, but I also understand in wild goose chases like this when defense lawyers say something, I know that just saying it does not make it true."

Lyons also once suggested to a local magazine that he’d simply “set [him]self on fire” before allowing Johnnie to test the evidence that would likely not only exonerate him, but also establish the identity of the real killer.

Johnnie’s only hope for justice lies with Governor Quinn.  He can order DNA testing today, and he’ll do it if enough people demand it.

Take one minute to e-mail Governor Quinn.  Tell him to order DNA testing for Johnnie Lee Savory.

Justice delayed should not mean justice denied.

For 10 years, the Center on Wrongful Convictions has fought to identify and rectify wrongful convictions and other serious miscarriages of justice.

Without the Center's work, Johnnie Lee Savory would probably still be in prison for crimes he did not commit.  The same could be said for scores of other innocent people in Illinois and across the country.

If you want to learn more about the Center, check out this video.  


If you care about rectifying wrongful convictions, you should donate to the Center. (I just gave them $10--$1 for each year.)

On average, each pending case cost roughly $46,000.  More than half of this  amount comes from private donations.   By donating to the Center, you can literally help save an innocent person like Johnnie Lee Savory from the living hell of a wrongful conviction.

If you can't donate now, but want to know more about this Center, you can join their new facebook group.

Since Johnnie Lee Savory was released from prison, he has been organizing with other unjustly convicted people, including many of the survivors of former Chicago Police Commander Jon Burge's regime of torture.

For decades these survivors have cried out for justice, and finally, on October 21, 2008, their calls were heard when U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald arrested Burge for his crimes.

In this video, some of the survivors talk about what happened to them and their continuing fight for justice.  

In "A Battle is Won, But the Fight Continues," Johnnie talks about how he brought together the people and organizations that eventually helped him win his parole after spending 30 years in prison for a crime he did not commit.


You can watch the rest of Johnnie's four-part interview on his YouTube channel.

Though Johnnie is free today, his fight is not over.  

The State of Illinois still considers Johnnie a murderer, and yet refuses to test the DNA on the evidence that was used to convict him.  A DNA test could not only help establish Johnnie's innocence, but it could also point to the identity of the real killer.

Because Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions has offered to pay for the testing, Illinois has nothing to lose here--except the cowardly lies and false excuses that imprisoned an innocent man.

You can help Johnnie win this fight today.  Join the growing list of Johnnie's allies, which includes the late Justice Prentice Marshall, The Innocence Project, the law firm of Jenner & Block, the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Convicted, Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions, and many others.

Click here and tell IL Governor Rod Blagojevich to order DNA testing on the evidence that was used to send Johnnie to prison for 30 years for a crime he did not commit.

You can also join Justice for Savory on facebook and MySpace.

If you have any questions or comments about Justice for Savory, send us an e-mai at justiceforsavory@gmail.com