Trisha Sugarek

Cook County Justice !: a Play in Two Acts Trisha Sugarek

Innocent men do go to prison and stay there for decades. Chicago. 1946. Joe Doheny is seventeen, enrolled at the University of Illinois, Navy Pier, but he has a secret life; he's a burglar. Joe?s parents migrated from Ireland and surviving the depression, they managed to keep their family together. Even though he holds down part time jobs, he steals so that he can continue in school and help his parents financially. Joe is finally caught for petty theft by the police and arrested. And less than five hours later is charged with murder! He is questioned and brutally tortured for days at the Cook County Jail and finally, in fear for his life, he signs a confession. Without a trial, he plea bargains and is sentenced to life, with parole. The next fifty one years are told in vignettes by Joe [middle aged], and seventeen-year-old Joe, often on stage together. Joe tells his story in an interview with an anchor person from a television news magazine. His quest for freedom, the people supporting him; the woman in his life who has stood by him for three decades. The death of his beloved mother, the friends along the way and finding the man who actually committed the murder. The tale unfolds in a series of flash backs until the audience finally realizes that there is no happy ending to Joe's story and that Joe is still in prison after sixty plus years.