2 tied to false confessions now instruct cops on investigating

By Dan Hinkel, Chicago Tribune reporter
April 6, 2012

Hoping to prevent bungled police probes and prosecutions like those that have plagued Illinois' legal system, state lawmakers mandated the creation of a class to certify officers as "lead homicide investigators."

But one of the teams being paid tax dollars to teach the five-day course consists of two law-enforcement figures who were involved in — and sometimes central to — a spate of collapsing prosecutions in Lake County, including high-profile cases that disintegrated in the face of contradictory evidence.

In December, appeals judges called out former Waukegan Detective Lou Tessmann by name as they ordered the release of Juan Rivera after almost 20 years in prison. The judges questioned Tessmann's interrogation tactics and the believability of the confession he took from Rivera in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl.

more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-police-training-20120406,0,7358533.story

This is in the northern suburbs of Chicago, not the city itself. Very disturbing stuff.