![]() ![]() ![]() Gaffney claimed Van Dyke and other officers had been injured. Prosecutors contended that Walsh, who was Van Dyke's partner, and Gaffney, a patrolman, wrote among other things that McDonald assaulted Van Dyke, CBS Chicago reported. Speaking to reporters after the verdict, Walsh said the case had been "heart-wrenching, heartbreaking for my family for a year and a half." A defense lawyer praised the judge as courageous, saying she didn't bow to a "tremendous amount of pressure" to convict the three defendants. "The verdict says to police officers that you can lie, cheat, steal, rape, rob and pillage and it's OK, we will support you and make sure you never see the inside a jail cell," Hunter said. Marvin Hunter, said that "to say that these men are not guilty is to say that Jason Van Dyke is not guilty." She said even if there were errors in the police reports they filed, it wouldn't rise to the level of the officers knowingly making a false report or a conspiracy.Īctivists and McDonald's family immediately decried the verdict. 17 year old found not guilty series#Stephenson found the state didn't meet their burden in proving a series of allegations against the defendants, including that the three lied in police reports or conspired to cover up information. An image from a police dashcam video shows the moments before 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, right, was shot and killed by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke on Oct. Van Dyke was convicted by a jury in October of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery - one for each bullet he shot McDonald with. The video, which city officials refused to release until ordered by a judge, showed Officer Jason Van Dyke firing round after round into the 17-year-old, and it conflicted with the officers' accounts, which stated that McDonald aggressively swung a knife at police and kept trying to get up even after he was shot. Stephenson found them not guilty on all three charges. They had been charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct for allegedly lying about the 2014 shooting, which sparked large protests and accusations of a cover-up after dashcam video of the confrontation emerged 13 months after it happened. Chicago - A judge issued a not guilty verdict Thursday for three Chicago police officers accused of lying in their reports to protect the white officer who fatally shot black teenager Laquan McDonald.Ĭook County Judge Domenica Stephenson issued the verdict Thursday for David March, Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |