By Tamantha Hip-HopVibe.com Staff Writer
A judge has just found three Chicago police officers “not guilty” for the shooting death of Laquan McDonald.
Via CNN:
Former Detective David March, former Officer Joseph Walsh and Officer Thomas Gaffney had been accused of falsifying police reports to protect Officer Jason Van Dyke, who was found guilty in October of second-degree murder in McDonald’s death.
They faced charges of conspiracy, official misconduct and obstruction of justice, but Cook County Associate Judge Domenica Stephenson said in her ruling the state had not proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers engaged in a conspiracy to prevent a criminal investigation, and acquitted the officers of all charges.
Part of the prosecution’s case relied on allegations that officers gave the same details in their incident reports, details that were contradicted by dashcam footage.
But Stephenson said the footage did not show the perspectives of all the officers on the scene, so it could not be definitively said that the comments they made in their reports were not consistent with what they saw, even if it differed from the video.
All the evidence needed to be taken into account, Stephenson said, and to say that discrepancies between the officers’ accounts and the video pointed to a conspiracy was “nothing more than speculation.”
The prosecution had also alleged that, to prevent criminal investigation of Van Dyke, police falsely claimed three officers were battered by McDonald. But Stephenson said the prosecution did not prove the officers were listed as victims as part of a conspiracy or effort to obstruct justice.
After the verdict, Marvin Hunter, McDonald’s great uncle, said he was surprised by the verdict, and that it spoke to his belief that the Cook County criminal justice system was “corrupt.”
“This is not justice,” Hunter said, adding that he hoped there would not be a similarly disappointing outcome in Van Dyke’s sentencing, which is slated for Friday.
The case had come to represent a referendum on Chicago police officers’ so-called “code of silence,” and their alleged willingness to protect each other.
It’s crazy how cops don’t have to abide by the same laws that they arrest us for not following. We send out prayers to the family and friends of Laquan.
