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Murderous Pig found guilty of murder of Laquan McDonald..

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...onald-jason-van-dyke-jail-20181009-story.html

Van Dyke moved to jail in Quad Cities to await sentencing for Laquan McDonald murder

Convicted Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was transferred Tuesday to a county jail three hours west of Chicago where he will be held as a high-profile detainee pending sentencing, sheriff officials said.

Rock Island County Sheriff Gerry Bustos said Van Dyke arrived at the jail early Tuesday afternoon and was in the process of being booked. Bustos said Van Dyke will be held in protective custody out of the general population of the jail, located about 180 miles from Chicago on the Iowa border.

The move was part of an arrangement that Cook County has with other jails to move prisoners who are either high-profile, dangerous or working as cooperating witnesses in other cases, according to to Cara Smith, chief policy officer for Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart.

There are 45 detainees on that list, including Shomari Legghette, who is awaiting trial in the slaying of Chicago police Cmdr. Paul Bauer, Smith said.

Van Dyke was convicted by a jury Friday of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in the October 2014 shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.

After the verdict came down, Van Dyke’s bond was revoked and he was taken into custody at Cook County Jail, where he underwent a routine psychological examination and was held for several nights in a cell at the Cermak Health Services jail infirmary, according to Smith.

Smith said the decision to transfer Van Dyke to Rock Island was based on his high-profile status, not on any threats or concern for his safety.

“There were absolutely no incidents at Cook County Jail,” Smith said. “It was completely uneventful.”

Smith said Van Dyke had no visitors during his four-night stay at the jail. Friends and family who want to visit Van Dyke in Rock Island will have to go through that jail’s visitation system, she said.

Rock Island Jail, in the Quad Cities area along the Mississippi River, averages about 260 inmates and can house up to about 330, according to the county sheriff’s website.

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http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/...nald-jason-van-dyke-trial-20181009-story.html

What lies ahead for Jason Van Dyke — a complicated sentence, an appeal, a distant jail

Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke has been convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm — one for each shot he fired into 17-year-old Laquan McDonald — but the case is far from over. What kind of prison time will he have to serve? Will he appeal his conviction? What about that contempt of court issue? Here’s what to watch out for in the coming weeks:

Legal experts are unclear on what kind of prison time Van Dyke is facing. The officer will return to court Oct. 31 for a hearing at which both sides will begin to unravel the complicated sentencing structure in play. A second-degree murder conviction carries anywhere from probation to 20 years in prison, but the aggravated battery counts are actually more serious, carrying a mandatory sentence of six years and up to 30 years in prison for potentially each count. But experts vary wildly on how it will all play out, particularly the thorny issue of whether Judge Vincent Gaughan will impose consecutive prison terms for each aggravated battery count or fold them all together. Some predict Van Dyke could face up to 60 years in prison, while others say it’s likely much less. In an interview with the Chicago Tribune after the verdict, special prosecutor Joseph McMahon declined to say how much prison time he would seek. “Any sentence in prison is significant,” McMahon said. “I wouldn’t want to spend a day in prison. I also realize that sending an officer to prison presents other risks and safety issues.”

Van Dyke’s attorney has vowed to appeal the conviction to a higher court, a process that would begin after sentencing. Daniel Herbert has said in interviews that one of the reasons he filed so many pretrial motions was to preserve issues for an appeal if Van Dyke were convicted. After the verdict Friday, Herbert told reporters he was confident he has a solid case, particularly on Gaughan’s denial of their motion to move the case outside Cook County. “As I told Jason and his family, we have a lot of legal challenges ahead of us. We know we can get this even better and perhaps throw everything out,” he said.

The officer’s family will have to drive more than three hours to visit Van Dyke in jail. After a four-day stay in protective custody in Cook County Jail, Van Dyke was transferred Tuesday to the Rock Island County Jail in the Quad Cities, where he will be held as a high-profile detainee pending sentencing. The move was part of an arrangement that Cook County has with other jails to relocate prisoners who are high-profile, dangerous or working as cooperating witnesses in other cases, according to Cara Smith, chief policy officer for Sheriff Tom Dart. After he was convicted Friday, Van Dyke underwent a routine psychological examination and was held several nights in a cell at the jail’s infirmary, according to Smith, who said the decision to transfer Van Dyke to Rock Island was based on his high-profile status, not on any threats or concern for his safety. “There were absolutely no incidents at Cook County Jail,” Smith said. “It was completely uneventful.”

Van Dyke is still possibly on the hook for contempt of court for granting media interviews on the eve of jury selection. Prosecutors in August asked Gaughan to hold him in contempt for speaking with the Tribune, an alleged violation of Gaughan’s gag order on key players in the case. The judge deferred a hearing on the contempt issue until after Van Dyke’s trial, only slightly raising the officer’s bail as punishment for speaking to reporters. Criminal contempt carries with it the specter of more jail time on top of whatever sentence Gaughan gives Van Dyke for the murder and aggravated battery counts. It would be surprising to some if McMahon pursued the contempt issue with Van Dyke now facing at least six years in prison.

Three current and former Chicago cops also face trial on charges stemming from McDonald’s shooting. Former Detective David March, ex-Officer Joseph Walsh and Officer Thomas Gaffney were charged last year with covering up what really happened the night Van Dyke shot McDonald — including filing false reports to exaggerate the threat the teen posed. They are slated for trial late next month. Walsh, who was Van Dyke’s partner the night of the shooting, made a memorable appearance as a witness in the murder trial, demonstrating for jurors how he said McDonald threatened them with a knife that night and insisting he and Van Dyke had a reasonable fear for their lives, despite what the now-infamous police dashboard camera video of the shooting showed.
 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-van-dyke-gofundme-20181015-story.html

GoFundMe campaign raises more than $51,000 so far for daughters of Jason Van Dyke


Hundreds of supporters have donated more than $51,000 so far to help the school-age daughters of Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, convicted earlier this month in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald.

One of Van Dyke’s attorneys, Tammy Wendt, created the fund on Oct. 7, two days after a Cook County jury found Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm — one for each bullet that struck the teen in October 2014.

After the verdict, Van Dyke’s bond was revoked and sheriff’s deputies took him into custody to await sentencing. He is being held in protective custody at a county jail in Rock Island, in the Quad Cities area about three hours west of Chicago.

Wendt set a fundraising goal of $100,000 for the girls’ “daily living needs” such as food, shelter, clothing and transportation. The campaign, called “Help support the Van Dyke girls,” has been shared more than 9,000 times on Facebook, bringing in donations ranging from $1,000 to $5, according to GoFundMe.

“Thank you in advance for your support and please continue to pray for the entire Van Dyke family as they try to come to grips with this devastating loss and adjust to their life that has been unfortunately changed forever,” Wendt wrote.

As of 7:30 p.m. Monday, more than 600 donors had contributed $51,230.

The site does not require verification of a donor’s published name, and many chose to remain anonymous. Of those who signed in through their social media accounts with their name listed, some had connections to the Chicago Police Department.

The officer’s wife, Tiffany, told the Tribune in three earlier interviews that the fallout for her family has been daunting.

Suspended without pay or benefits by the Police Department after he was criminally charged in November 2015, Van Dyke had worked part time since March 2016 as a $12-an-hour janitor for the Fraternal Order of Police, the union which represents rank-and-file officers.

His employment drew protests from those who called it another example of police protecting their own. The FOP also funded much of his costly criminal defense.

His wife said she had to change jobs shortly after her husband was charged because she received a death threat through social media. At the time, she taught fitness in a public place.

Last year, she was holding down two jobs, as a fitness instructor and bartender, to help support her family. Tiffany Van Dyke also was set to begin training as a Cook County sheriff deputy in spring 2017 after a year of tests and interviews, but the job was yanked days before she began the training after a sheriff official realized her connection to the highly charged case.

“I need to be able to take care of my children,” she told the Tribune afterward.

Jason Van Dyke, 40, was transferred last week from Cook County to a jail in Rock Island, about 180 miles from Chicago on the Iowa border.

The move was part of an arrangement that Cook County has with other jails to move prisoners who are either high-profile, dangerous or working as cooperating witnesses in other cases, sheriff’s officials said. They said the decision to transfer Van Dyke was based on his high-profile status, not on any threats or concern for his safety.

He returns to court Oct. 31 for his first appearance since the verdict.

It’s unclear how much time Van Dyke faces behind bars. A second-degree murder conviction carries a possible punishment of probation or up to 20 years in prison. The aggravated battery counts are more serious, possibly carrying a mandatory sentence of six to 30 years in prison for each count.

It’s unknown whether Judge Vincent Gaughan will impose consecutive prison terms for each count of aggravated battery or fold them together.

Van Dyke fatally shot McDonald on the city’s Southwest Side after the 17-year-old boy refused commands to drop a knife. McDonald’s family received a $5 million settlement from the city in April 2015, months before a police dashboard camera of the shooting was released to the public.

The video sparked outrage and allegations of a police cover-up because the teen appears to be walking away from officers and not lunging at them with the knife as alleged.

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https://chicago.suntimes.com/news/jason-van-dyke-donations-laquan-mcdonald-jail/

Jason van Dyke showered with donations while in jail

Police officer Jason Van Dyke, who is awaiting sentencing for the 2014 murder of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in county jail seclusion, has jettisoned orange jail gear for yellow duds.

And he is the recipient of books and free meals paid for by people “from all over the world,” said a family source who asked to remain anonymous.

“Jason’s been deluged!”

“It’s unbelievable how many people have sent him books — strangers — and people paying into some sort of a prison plan where Jason is being fed hot meals,” the source said. “It’s amazing.”

Van Dyke, who also leaves behind a dog he rescued on winter night patrol on the South Side eight years ago, was just sent the book “Marley & Me,” about a man and his rascally canine.

“He hasn’t hit the book’s sad ending, but Jason really misses his dog,” the source added.

Van Dyke, who is being held in solitary in a Rock Island facility, has been able to watch a Bears game . . . but not much news.

A GoFundMe page set up by one of his lawyers has reached $82,092 at last peek, which will go toward the needs of his wife and two daughters.

“His biggest concern right now is the harassment his eldest daughter is getting at school,” she said. “It’s a continual issue.”

Van Dyke, who will remain in protective custody, will return to Chicago for a post-trial hearing on Oct. 31 and is expected to be sentenced this year.

Only in AmeriKKKa...
 
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-daniel-herbert-fop-20181107-story.html

Police union cuts ties with attorney who defended Van Dyke in Laquan McDonald shooting

The union representing rank-and-file Chicago police will no longer refer officers in need of legal assistance to the attorney who represents convicted former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke, according to multiple sources.

The executive board of the local Fraternal Order of Police voted Tuesday against recommending the services of Daniel Herbert, the sources said.

Herbert confirmed Wednesday that he had appeared a day earlier before members of the board, who he said expressed displeasure with his handling of Van Dyke’s case. Herbert was aware of the decision but said he had not been formally notified of the specifics as of Wednesday morning.

“I 100 percent stand behind the defense that I put on for Jason Van Dyke,” said Herbert, himself a former Chicago police officer. “I gave my heart and soul to this case, and as long as my appearance is still on file, I’m going to continue to do everything I can to represent my client.”

Union President Kevin Graham could not immediately be reached for comment. The organization, though, has a policy of not commenting to the Tribune.

After a monthlong trial this fall, a Cook County jury convicted Van Dyke of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery in the 2014 on-duty shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. The guilty verdict marked the first time in half a century that a Chicago police officer was convicted of murder in an on-duty incident.

This week’s decision means the union will stop actively referring officers to Herbert. Officers with legal needs could still choose on their own to select him as their attorney, and the FOP would pay for legal expenses depending on the type of case, the sources said.

“There’s no hard feelings,” Herbert said. “If they don’t feel that my services are of value to their members, then we should not be doing business together.”

Herbert noted that many of the union board members were not in attendance at the trial and said their decision was motivated by politics. He declined to elaborate.

“I get along with most of the members on the board very well,” he said. “There was just a couple people that really made things difficult, and I am relieved to be done dealing with them.”

Reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Van Dyke’s wife, Tiffany, called the FOP board’s decision “shameful” and said she had never been less than satisfied with the way Herbert and his legal team handled the case. In fact, the lawyer seems like part of the family now, she said.

“I trust in Dan completely. I think he is a phenomenal attorney,” she said. “My husband, he thinks things through, he researches things, he doesn’t just jump into a decision. … He thought long and hard about making them his attorneys, and I don’t think he regrets it one bit.”

Van Dyke “absolutely 100 percent” wants Herbert to remain his lawyer, she said.

Herbert told the Tribune he now must consider whether continuing to represent Van Dyke would be “prudent” given his now-fractured relationship with the union.

Herbert left the Cook County state’s attorney’s office in 2004 to become an in-house lawyer for the FOP. He set up a private practice of his own in 2010.

Van Dyke’s next court date is slated for mid-December. He was taken into custody immediately after the verdict and is being held in protective custody at a county jail in the Quad Cities area about three hours west of Chicago.

He is no longer a police officer since the Illinois State Police revoked his certification with his conviction. No sentencing date has been set.

Van Dyke fatally shot McDonald on the city's Southwest Side in 2014 after the teen refused commands to drop a knife. The court-ordered release of police dashboard camera video of the shooting sparked widespread outrage and allegations of a police cover-up because the teen appears to be walking away from officers, not lunging at them with the knife as alleged by Van Dyke and other officers.

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/news...nald-jason-van-dyke-court-20181215-story.html

Jason Van Dyke to be sentenced next month after judge turns down new trial

Looking tired and thinner, former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dykereturned to Cook County court for only the second time since his historic conviction to learn a judge will impose his sentence in little more than a month.

Van Dyke sat through more than two hours of argument over a long-shot bid by the defense for a new trial — an effort quickly rejected by Judge Vincent Gaughan, who presided over the jury trial.

Van Dyke has been in custody since a jury in October found him guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery for the on-duty killing of Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times. He has been kept at a Quad City-area jail in isolation because of his law enforcement background.

The scheduled sentencing on Jan. 18 promises to be a contentious climax for a case that has shaken the Police Department to its core. Van Dyke’s lead lawyer signaled after court Friday that he would seek probation for the former veteran cop.

Special prosecutor Joseph McMahon declined to say what sentence he would seek, but a community activist who helped make public a graphic video of the shooting called Friday for Van Dyke to be given consecutive prison sentences for each of the 16 aggravated battery counts.

An aggravated battery conviction carries a sentence of six to 30 years in prison. Probation would be possible, though, for the conviction for second-degree murder, which also carries a potential sentence of four to 20 years in prison.

Sporting a patchy beard and crew cut, Van Dyke listened to the arguments over a new trial with a stern look and furrowed brow. His bright yellow jail uniform hanging loosely on him, Van Dyke occasionally turned to try to catch the eye of his wife and father sitting in the gallery.

Two members of the sheriff's emergency response team — brought in to supplement security for high-risk or high-profile defendants — stayed near Van Dyke during the hearing.

Van Dyke’s lead attorney, Daniel Herbert, alleged a multitude of errors by the judge and jury before and during the trial, including Gaughan’s refusal to move the proceedings outside Cook County because of extensive pretrial publicity.

In rejecting the bid for a new trial, Gaughan praised the jury’s fairness, particularly in navigating the thicket of legal instructions required to find Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder rather than first-degree.

“The jury did resolve complicated questions,” he said. “These were not just … on-the-spur-of-the-moment decisions by the jury. Very thorough, very complicated and very correct.”

The jury’s landmark verdict made Van Dyke the first Chicago police officer in half a century to be convicted of murder in an on-duty incident.

The now-infamous dashcam video — released more than a year after the October 2014 shooting — showed the white officer opening fire within seconds of exiting his squad car as the black teen walked away from police with a knife in his hand. The video contradicted reports from officers at the scene that McDonald had threatened officers with the weapon.

Three former or current officers — including Van Dyke’s partner that night — are scheduled to learn next week whether they will be found guilty of obstruction of justice, official misconduct and conspiracy charges for allegedly agreeing to conceal the circumstances of McDonald’s shooting. Their trial has been cast as a referendum on the so-called code of silence, an unwritten policy within the Police Department designed to protect fellow officers from allegations of wrongdoing.

Van Dyke’s sentencing hearing next month could be lengthy. The defense could call witnesses to testify about Van Dyke’s character and history with the Police Department, members of McDonald’s family could also speak and Van Dyke himself could talk for the first time since his testimony at the trial.

The hearing could also feature extensive legal argument, since the sentencing range faced by Van Dyke is a bit murky.

After court Friday, Herbert told reporters he plans to ask that Van Dyke be sentenced only on the second-degree murder conviction. He said he’ll argue that under the law the judge cannot impose multiple consecutive sentences for a single act. As a result, he said Gaughan should merge the aggravated battery counts into the second-degree murder conviction.

While he plans to seek probation for Van Dyke, Herbert acknowledged the judge would most likely impose prison time.

Activist William Calloway, whose efforts pushed forward the public release of the shooting video, said he believes Van Dyke deserves a lengthy prison sentence.

“We believe that each shot Jason shot Laquan McDonald with was unjustified,” said Calloway, who hopes the judge imposes consecutive sentences for each of the 16 counts of aggravated battery.

An appeal lies ahead for Van Dyke after the sentencing.

Attorney Darren O’Brien, a former longtime Cook County prosecutor, confirmed to the Tribune this week that he and Jennifer Blagg will handle Van Dyke’s appeal. The two won a controversial acquittal of former Chicago police Detective Dante Servin in the fatal off-duty shooting of an innocent woman, Rekia Boyd.

Following Friday’s court hearing, Gaughan allowed Van Dyke to visit with his wife and father.

“They’re great communications,” Herbert said of the meeting. “But you can just tell there’s kind of a cloud hanging over everyone. … They’re doing the best they can to survive.”

Van Dyke also received Communion from his parish priest, according to Herbert.

“He’s sad obviously with the holidays coming up, but he’s a tough guy,” Herbert said. “He’s doing what he can.”
 
https://chicago.cbslocal.com/2019/0...y-letters-probation-laquan-mcdonald-shooting/

Van Dyke’s Family And Fellow Officers Ask For Probation Ahead Of Sentencing; Prosecutors Make Case For Prison
CHICAGO (CBS) — With former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke facing a sentencing hearing this week in the shooting death of Laquan McDonald, his attorneys have submitted nearly 200 letters from family, friends and fellow officers; asking a judge to give him only probation.

Prosecutors, on the other hand, laid out their case for Van Dyke to go to prison, though they didn’t recommend a specific term behind bars.

On Monday, prosecutors and defense attorneys both submitted their sentencing memos in the case, more than three months after Van Dyke was convicted of one count of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery in McDonald’s death.

Defense attorney Daniel Herbert recommended Van Dyke be sentenced to only probation, or at most the minimum six-year sentence for aggravated battery, and continued to blame McDonald for what happened the night of the fatal shooting.

“Mr. McDonald is not blameless in this incident. His PCP-fueled crime spree included a number of offenses, some forcible felonies, such as burglary, attempt murder, aggravated assault, and criminal damage to state supported property. Mr. McDonald set everything in motion on October 20, 2014 as he attempted to flee from a lawful arrest for those offenses and repeatedly refused to comply with lawful police commands to drop the knife,” Herbert wrote.

“Jason’s criminal conduct was induced or facilitated by Mr. McDonald,” he added. “Jason did not instigate this incident, he merely responded to a call for help. As state [sic] above, Mr. McDonald’s own conduct set this incident in motion.”

The defense also submitted nearly 200 letters asking the judge for leniency, including letters from fellow officers, neighbors, friends and Van Dyke’s wife and daughters.

SMDH...
 
https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/loc...Leniency-in-New-Court-Document-504355641.html

Letters From Jason Van Dyke's Family, Cops Beg For Leniency


Letters of support and expressions of pain from Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke’s family members were included in a court document filed Monday in Cook County Circuit Court.

Prosecutors are planning to ask a judge to sentence Van Dyke to up to 96 years in prison for the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald.

The day of his verdict not only was my heart ripped out of my chest, but he wouldn’t be there for my seventeenth birthday which made me fall into a depression,” his daughter wrote. “I want you to get to know the real Jason Van Dyke. I know who he really is and not what the public has portrayed him to be as well as the media or any news source.”

She goes on to explain the last time she hugged or kissed her father was in October.

“Now I touch his hand through a piece of dirty glass and speak through a phone where the connection breaks in and out [of]… I have no appetite, I do not sleep at night due to nightmares and crying because I wonder if my dad has pillows or blankets or has eaten before going to bed.”

“Bring my dad home,” she wrote.

Van Dyke’s wife, Tiffany, also wrote a letter of support.

“My family has suffered more than I can even put into words,” she wrote. “My daughters had their father ripped away from them to possibly ever be able to hold each other again. My children do not sleep or eat right. They feel guilty when they are bullied at school and he cannot come to their rescue.”

She said her husband was convicted in the “court of public opinion” long before the trial.

“Please find it in your heart to consider the punishment already endured by him that will continue for the rest of his life,” she wrote. “There was no malice, ill intent, or hatred on that fateful night when my husband was faced with the split second decision. He believed he was making the right choice that night.”

Another of his children wrote of being bullied regularly at school.

“Kids come up to me and say that my dad is a murderer,” the child wrote. “That hurts so much when people say that to me. I have had nightmares and trouble sleeping because my dad might have to go away for a long time. I can’t concentrate at school because of what is happening to him. My dad loves me and my sister and mom and is a kind person. I love my dad more than words can say.”

The child wrote that Van Dyke stopped going out in public after the shooting as much with his family. If he did, according to the letter, he would change “how he looks so that no one can recognize him so that we do not get hurt because people do not like what he did.”

“I need my dad in my life,” the child wrote.

Several Chicago police officers also wrote letters requesting leniency in Van Dyke’s sentencing.

According to a recent filing in Cook County Circuit Court, prosecutors seek a 6-year sentence for each of the 16 counts of aggravated battery Van Dyke was convicted of in October. That marks a total of 96 years.

"Each and every shot caused bleeding, and, each and every shot contributed to Laquan's death which resulted from multiple gunshot wounds," the filing states.

Van Dyke's defense, however, has asked that the former police officer be sentenced to probation if sentenced for second-degree murder and the "minimum statutory term of imprisonment required" for aggravated battery.

"Jason's background, history, and character support these requests," the filing reads. "Jason is presently 40 years old and married with two daughters. He has no criminal record of any kind and he has a good educational, professional and employment background."

The defense argues the sentence should be considered "one act, one crime."

Van Dyke is set to be sentenced by Judge Vincent Gaughan Friday following a years-long saga in the case.

Van Dyke was convicted on Oct. 5 of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery in the fatal shooting of McDonald.

The long-awaited verdict came almost exactly four years after Van Dyke shot 17-year-old McDonald 16 times on the city's Southwest Side.

Dashcam video showing the shooting shook the city and the nation, sparking massive protests and calls for justice.

Van Dyke's attorneys have maintained the Chicago officer was wrongly charged, saying he was acting within the law when he shot the teen, who at the time was an armed felon fleeing a crime scene

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https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/chicago-cops-acquitted-laquan-mcdonald-shooting-cover-up

3 Chicago Cops Acquitted Of Laquan McDonald Shooting Cover-Up

CHICAGO (AP) — A judge on Thursday acquitted three Chicago police officers of trying to cover up the 2014 police shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald to try to protect another officer who pulled the trigger.

After a trial that was watched closely by law enforcement and critics of the department that has long had a reputation for condoning police brutality and misconduct, Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson acquitted former Officer Joseph Walsh, former Detective David March and Officer Thomas Gaffney on charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice.

The judge said there was no evidence that officers tried to hide or bury evidence. “The evidence shows just the opposite,” she said. She singled out how they had preserved the police dashcam video at the heart of the evidence that convicted Officer Jason Van Dyke, who shot McDonald 16 times.

Van Dyke was convicted in October of second-degree murder and aggravated battery and is due to be sentenced Friday.

Both trials hinged on the dashcam video, which shows Van Dyke shoot McDonald within seconds of getting out of his police SUV and then continue shooting the 17-year-old while he was lying on the street and barely moving. Police were responding to a report of a male who was breaking into trucks and stealing radios on the city’s South Side.

Prosecutors allege that Gaffney, March and Walsh, who was Van Dyke’s partner, submitted false reports about what really happened to try to prevent or shape any criminal investigation of the shooting. Among other things, they say the officers falsely claimed that McDonald ignored verbal commands from Van Dyke, that Van Dyke shot McDonald after McDonald aggressively swung a knife at the officers and that he kept shooting the teen because McDonald was trying to get up still armed with the knife.

McDonald did have a small knife that he had used to puncture a tire on Gaffney’s police vehicle, but the video shows that he didn’t swing it at the officers before Van Dyke shot him and that he appeared to be incapacitated after falling to the ground.

“The case is clear, the case is straightforward, and it is concise,” Special Prosecutor Patricia Brown Holmes told the judge during her opening statements. “It boils down to what the defendants wrote on paper versus what is shown on video.”

When later summarizing her case, Holmes urged Stephenson to hold the officers accountable and to provide some measure of justice to the slain teen.

“Laquan McDonald was a human being. He deserved due process in the law and not to have police officers write false reports and shape a false narrative,” Holmes said.

The attorneys for Gaffney, Walsh and March — the latter two of whom have since left the police force — used the same strategy that the defense used at Van Dyke’s trial by placing all the blame on McDonald.

It was McDonald’s refusal to drop his knife and threatening actions that “caused these officers to see what they saw,” March’s attorney, James McKay, told the court. “This is a case about law and order (and) about Laquan McDonald not following any laws that night.”

The lawyers ridiculed the decision to charge the three officers, saying they merely wrote what they observed or, in March’s case, what the other officers told him they saw. And they said there was no evidence that the officers conspired to get their stories straight.

“The state wants you to criminalize police reports,” McKay bellowed at one point.

The McDonald shooting sparked large protests and led to major changes to Chicago’s policing, but only more than a year after the fact. City Hall only released the video to the public in November 2015 — 13 months after the shooting — because a judge ordered it to do so. The charges against Van Dyke weren’t announced until the day of the video’s release.

The case cost the police superintendent his job and was widely seen as the reason the county’s top prosecutor was voted out of office a few months later. It was also stunning because it led to charges not only against Van Dyke, but against the three officers accused of covering for each other as part of a “code of silence” that until recent years city officials adamantly denied even existed.

At the same time, the case prompted a federal investigation that resulted in a blistering report that found Chicago officers routinely used excessive force and violated the rights of residents, particularly minorities. The city implemented a new policy that requires video of fatal police shootings to be released within 60 days, accelerated a program to equip all officers with body cameras, and implemented a host of reforms to change the way officers are trained and investigate officer-involved shootings.

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https://www.chicagotribune.com/news...jason-van-dyke-sentencing-20190118-story.html

Jason Van Dyke sentenced to 6 3/4 years in prison for killing of Laquan McDonald

Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke was sentenced to 6 ¾ years in prison Friday for the fatal shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, closing one of the most racially fraught and socially significant chapters in recent Chicago history.

After a daylong hearing, Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Van Dyke only on the second-degree murder conviction, finding that it was the more serious crime and the 16 aggravated battery convictions should "merge" into it for sentencing purposes.

That decision means Van Dyke will serve only half of the sentence -- less than 3 1/2 years in prison – if he earns credit for good behavior.

In his remarks, Gaughan said it was easy to see the impact that Van Dyke’s crime had on both his family and McDonald’s.

“That’s the shame -- the families are suffering a tremendous amount,” he said. “It’s just so senseless that these acts occur because you can see the pain on both sides. This is a tragedy for both sides."

In fashioning his sentence, Gaughan said the law required him to consider the most serious charge Van Dyke was convicted of – which common sense dictates is second-degree murder, not aggravated battery.

“Is it more serious for Laquan McDonald to be shot by a firearm or is it more serious for Laquan McDonald to be murdered by a firearm?” said Gaughan, explaining his reasoning.

It was a key decision not only because the aggravated battery counts came with mandatory minimum 6-year prison terms but also because second-degree murder allows for good-time credit, meaning Van Dyke will only have to serve half of the sentence of 6 years and 6 months.

If Van Dyke had been sentenced for the aggravated battery convictions, he also would have had to serve 85 percent of that sentence, not half as with the second-degree murder.

The highly anticipated sentencing came with added tension one day after Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson acquitted three Chicago police officers of all charges alleging they conspired to shield Van Dyke from scrutiny in McDonald’s killing.

Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke reads a statement at his sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building Jan. 18, 2019 in Chicago.

Only in AmeriKKKa...
 
The Justice System in America is privileged, racist trash.

The's the only explanation for this pig to get less than seven years.

Hope he gets prison justice brought to him, cause that seems to be the only version of justice Laquan McDonald will ever see.

Fuck that anthem.
 
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