Leroy Orange was born on 20 July 1950 in Chicago, Illinois. On 12 January 1984 Orange was arrested along with his half-brother, Leonard Kidd, for the murder of four persons (Ricardo Pedro, 25, Michelle Jointer, 30, Renee Coleman, 27, and Coleman’s 10-year-old son, Tony) at 1553 W 91st Street in Chicago's South side Brainerd neighborhood based on false accusations by Kidd.
Orange eventually confessed to the murders after twelve hours of interrogation and alleged torture at the hands of Chicago Police Lieutenant Jon Burge.[1] At trial, despite Kidd's testimony on the witness stand that he had acted alone, Orange was convicted due in a large part to representation by Earl Washington, a private attorney retained by Orange's family accused of gross incompetence during the trial.
After several appeals that were being forestalled on technicalities, the Bluhm Legal Clinic Director Thomas F. Geraghty and clinic students entered the case.
On 10 January 2003 Illinois Governor George Ryan granted Orange a full pardon based on innocence, criticizing prosecutors and the judiciary for relying on “procedural technicalities at the exclusion of the quest for truth”.[2]
Leroy Orange was subsequently arrested for attempting to sell crack cocaine to an undercover police officer.[3]