That misconduct has led the U.S. Justice Department to conduct a sweeping civil rights investigation that could ultimately lead to a court order and the appointment of a federal monitor similar to the one that rode herd over city hiring for almost a decade.
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Fifty-five-year-old Bettie Jones was killed when a police officer opened fire on a 19-year-old man after they responded to a domestic disturbance call. In the most recent of those rulings Monday, U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang faulted lax training and oversight at Patton’s department for hampering the production of Police Department records when officers are accused of misconduct. Most likely this will amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars before the retrial can take place.
“Attorneys who might be tempted to bury late-surfacing information need to know that, if discovered, any verdict they win will be forfeited and their clients will pay the price”, the judge wrote.
The ruling tosses a April jury decision that found two officers were justified in killing Darius Pinex during a 2011 traffic stop. The officers testified at the trial that they had pulled Pinex’s Oldsmobile over because it matched a description they had heard over their police radios of a vehicle wanted in an earlier shooting. Sierra fired at least eight shots at the Oldsmobile as it backed into a light pole. As for Marsh, the judge found him involved in the coverup.
Marsh first said he had learned about the recording that day, then later said it had been the week before trial. “I think it does”.
However, Congressman Danny Davis favors the feds including the law department. The department’s statement says it’s continuing to review its procedures.
“The disciplines were not over a destruction of equipment, but officers failing to use the cameras properly, [i.e. syncing the audio; uploading videos at the end of their tour; inspecting the cameras to ensure they work correctly]”, CPD spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told the Chicago Sun-Times. Another attorney, Thomas Aumann resigned in August. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel speaks at a news conference Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016, in Chicago where he announced an expansion of the CTA’s successful Second Chance Program. But Steve Greenberg, an attorney for the Pinex family, tells a different story. Emanuel, however, said he does not believe the Law Department is part of a culture of cover-ups on police shootings.
The Chicago Police Department has taken disciplinary action against 22 officers over improper use of dash-cam equipment since December 4.
Officer Jason Van Dyke now faces a first-degree murder charge for fatally shooting Laquan McDonald.
This report contains material from The Associated Press. Rauner said Monday that IL won’t help CPS avert a “crisis” unless Emanuel backs some of his agenda. Emanuel says he has no plans to step down.
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Given that there is now no law that enables the recall of his leadership, Emanuel’s job is not in immediate jeopardy.
