A recent inves­ti­ga­tion by a spe­cial pros­e­cu­tor into the Chicago-based ​“Ford Heights Four” case revealed that police and pros­e­cu­tors per­pet­u­at­ed a ​“tun­nel vision” men­tal­i­ty that kept them from pur­su­ing the real per­pe­tra­tors of the crime. Former pros­e­cu­tor and judge Gino DiVito led the inde­pen­dent inves­ti­ga­tion con­duct­ed by the FBI and fed­er­al pros­e­cu­tors. He not­ed that the flawed Ford Heights Four inves­ti­ga­tion of Dennis Williams, Verneal Jimerson, Kenneth Adams, and Willie Rainge was taint­ed by con­tra­dic­to­ry tes­ti­mo­ny from a pur­port­ed eye­wit­ness, weak cor­rob­o­ra­tion of anoth­er wit­ness, ques­tion­able sci­en­tif­ic evi­dence, and dubi­ous tes­ti­mo­ny of a jail­house infor­mant. The inves­ti­ga­tion revealed that police failed to fol­low-up on an ear­ly report that point­ed to the real killers. Of the four men, Jimerson and Williams were sen­tenced to death and Adams and Rainge received life sen­tences. All men have since been freed (and Williams has died) and have set­tled a law­suit against Cook County for $36 mil­lion. The report con­clud­ed that no crimes were com­mit­ted by law enforce­ment dur­ing the case. (Chicago Tribune, August 22, 2003). See Innocence.

Citation Guide