A Chicago police commander was found not guilty on Monday after being accused of shoving his gun down a suspect’s throat and threatening to kill him.
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In announcing the Evans verdict, Cannon said she didn’t find Williams’ testimony believable, saying he changed his story repeatedly and that the presence of his DNA on Evans’ service pistol didn’t mean Evans’ was guilty. Now, the Independent Police Review Authority will resume its administrative investigation of the incident involving Evans and Rickey Williams three years ago.
Fifty two year old, Commander Evans, is a highly-decorated Chicago police officer who has received more than 48 citizen complaints in his 28 years of service.
The accuser, captured in a foot chase after Evans said he saw him holding a gun, was not exactly a strong witness.
Williams, who the officer found hiding in a closet in the abandoned home, testified that when Evans caught up to him he put his weapon so far down his throat that he gagged and spat blood.
Glenn Evans, 53, is accused of shoving a gun in a man’s throat and holding a Taser to his groin. A gun was never recovered from the scene. He said he never thought it was necessary to gather a DNA sample from Evans, as was requested by state police biologist Jennifer Patterson. She said it was reasonable to think it got on the gun during a tussle during his arrest.
Protesters are calling for more resignations, including those of Emanuel and Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. Cannon pointed to inconsistencies in Williams’ testimony in making her decision. Glenn Evans “is just one case”. According to Cannon, Williams first testified Evans was in uniform during the alleged incident and then said he was in plain clothes. However, the judge questioned why the inside barrel of the gun was not tested for Williams’ DNA.
The agency is under fire for failing to aggressively pursue police misconduct, with less than 2% of allegations against Chicago cops over the last eight years being found to have merit. He also ruled that the officer’s supervisor should have intervened. Williams and his attorney, Antonio Romanucci, will now make a civil case against the city.
Chicagoans have gotten used to seeing police brutality exposed, and the case of Glenn Evans was taken by many people to be an example of that.
Morask also cast doubt onto the investigation led by the Independent Police Review Authority, the embattled oversight agency that investigates reports of police misconduct. “In what world is putting a gun barrel down someone’s throat doing police (work)?” Dante Servin was charged with involuntary manslaughter and other charges in the shooting death of an unarmed black woman in 2012, but in April a judge suggested that prosecutors filed the wrong charges against the officer and acquitted him.
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The verdict marks the second time this year that the office has suffered a high-profile defeat after bringing charges against a Chicago police officer.
