March 16, 2009 4:57 PM

A Chicago man would receive $100,000 for each of 27 years he spent behind bars before DNA testing set him free, under a settlement endorsed Monday by the City Council Finance Committee.

The money, $2.7 million, would be paid to the estate of Paul Terry, who suffered profound mental damage behind bars.

“He will have enough money for the rest of his life to take care of his psychological problems and needs,” said Flint Taylor, one of his attorneys.

Terry and Michael Evans were both convicted at age 17 for the 1976 South Side rape and murder of 9-year-old Lisa Cabassa. They were released in 2003, after a former prosecutor’s misgivings led to DNA tests that excluded them as perpetrators of the assault.

The charges against them came out of Area 2 police headquarters, where former Cmdr. Jon Burge allegedly tortured suspects, but at a time when Burge was not there. Detectives in the case, however, had worked under him, Taylor said.

Evans alleged in a federal lawsuit he was railroaded by overzealous officers, but jurors determined police had sufficient evidence to arrest him. The city had offered Evans $2.7 million before trial.

Terry’s case, filed in state court, was stronger, Corp. Counsel Mara Georges said. For example, Terry wasn’t arrested until 10 months after the crime, and the witness against him was aging and out of town, she said.

– Hal Dardick

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