Attorney misconduct alleged, retrial ordered in Chicago cop shooting case

A top city attorney intentionally concealed crucial evidence in a trial over a fatal Chicago police shooting and then lied about his reasons for doing so, a federal judge ruled Monday in a scathing opinion. In his ruling, U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang added that the lawyer’s actions were exacerbated by shoddy record keeping by the department.

During trial, officers Raoul Mosqueda and Gildardo Sierra said they stopped Darius Pinex, a black man, because his auto fit the description of a vehicle suspected of involvement in an earlier shooting. The Pinex family’s attorney said the actions of the lawyers in question reflect on the city law department as a whole and he believes they protect their own. But records emerged after the trial began that officers weren’t listening to the channel broadcasting about the suspect’s vehicle.

“Attorneys who might be tempted to bury late-surfacing information need to know that, if discovered, any verdict they win will be forfeit and their clients will pay the price”, Chang wrote in his 72-page opinion.

Fairley’s appointments include a new chief of staff, Annette Moore, associate director of admissions at the University of Chicago Law School, and Jay Westensee, the new chief investigator, who now serves as a chief investigator with the city’s Office of Inspector General. The department’s statement says it’s continuing to review its procedures. The city lawyers who resigned have made no comment.

In Chicago, prosecutors took more than a year to bring murder charges against police officer Jason Van Dyke in the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald, who was show in the video walking away from police while holding a small knife.

A statement from the department said Jordan Marsh submitted his resignation Monday. “I think that that position is now untenable in the world that we’re in”.

Although he claims he hasn’t read the proposed bill to recall the Chicago mayor, Gov. Bruce Rauner said he would probably sign such legislation should it come to his desk.

The video led to protests, some directed at the agency, which was created in 2007 to give it the independence it needed to hold officers accountable.

“It sends a very direct message to the city that they have to change their ways”, he said of the judge’s opinion.

Bettie Jones, a mother of five, was fatally shot when police responded to a domestic dispute at a residence on the city’s West Side a day after Christmas.

A wrongful death lawsuit was filed last week by LeGrier’s father.