The Wrongful Conviction of Terrill Swift

Terrill Swift was just an average teen living in Englewood Chicago when on one random day, his mother had an unexpected visit from the Chicago police department. They were in search of her son who they thought was linked to the rape and murder of a middle aged white woman. Terrill, who was seventeen at the time, called the police department asking why they were looking for him. He had no connection to the victim or any of the other boys who were suspected of being involved in the crime. After hours of brutal interrogations and mental breakdown, he was told that if he signed a paper, he could go home. Being mentally brutalized, he agreed however, he did not realize that what he was signing was a confessional statement to the rape and murder.

Terrill Swift was a young, innocent, black teenager who was forced to sign a false confession. He was not only wrongfully accused, but served over fifteen years in prison for a crime he did not commit. After years of writing, he finally got help from Northwestern and began his fight for freedom.

Defense lawyers argued that DNA evidence undermined confessions, showing how confessions and eyewitness identifications can be faulty. Although primitive DNA testing before trial excluded the four men as the source of semen found in the victim’s body, prosecutors said the confessions connected them to the murder. DNA from the crime scene matched a man who had a lengthy criminal history that included murder and assaults against women.

After listening to Mr. Swift speak, I am not only inspired to advocate against wrongful convictions and false confession, but I have lost an immense amount of trust in our states judicial system. How can there be over twenty people a year convicted of crimes they did not commit? Our police and investigators need to stop worrying about locking a man up and need to focus on finding the right man to lock up. One is too many.

Mr. Swift has so much strength even after losing over fifteen years of his life. The one thing I did not understand is how he feels no anger towards the Illinois justice system, after all, justice was not served. The officers who took an oath to serve and protect did nothing but the opposite. The locked up a teenager, a young man, who if had been free for the last 15 years could have received a better education and gotten a better job.

I do admire the fact though, that Mr. Swift throughout the years has fought for his rights and his freedom. He knew he was innocent, he just needed to prove it; with the help of a few bright Northwestern students, he did just that. Mr. Swift is a free man now. He lives with his mother and is determined to advocate and share his story with the world. We, the future police officers, lawyers, and judges need to ensure that our corrupt system exists no more.