Vol. 2, Issue 58: Chicago's Criminal Justice Playbook
At Issue: LeGrier, Jones Shooting Found Unjustified
Two years after the fatal shooting of Quintonio LeGrier and Bettie Jones, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability has ruled the shooting unjustified.
COPA cited “inconsistent and ultimately unreliable” statements by Officer Robert Rialmo about whether LeGrier swung a baseball bat at him and where Rialmo was positioned during the incident.
Rialmo initially did not claim LeGrier swung the bat, only adding that detail in a second statement two days later. No other witnesses, including Rialmo’s partner, corroborated his account. Based on witness testimony, shell casings, and forensic evidence, COPA concluded Rialmo was much farther from LeGrier than he claimed.
CBS 2, which reported discrepancies between eyewitness accounts and Rialmo’s statement just two days after the shooting, questioned the delay: “What took so long?”
The Fraternal Order of Police called COPA’s ruling “clearly arbitrary and politicized,” arguing Rialmo’s actions “appear to fall clearly within the use-of-force guidelines.”
Supt. Eddie Johnson has 90 days to decide on disciplinary action based on COPA’s finding.
TWO GUEVARA CONVICTIONS OVERTURNED
The Cook County State’s Attorney dropped murder and kidnapping charges against Gabriel Solache and Arturo Reyes last month after Judge James Obbish ruled their confessions—allegedly coerced—were inadmissible. Obbish concluded that retired Det. Reynaldo Guevara had given “bald-faced lies” when he claimed not to recall interrogating the two men.
After nearly 30 years behind bars, Solache and Reyes were taken into custody by immigration officials.
As in other overturned convictions linked to Guevara, no physical evidence tied the defendants to the crime. Despite this, First Assistant State’s Attorney Eric Sussman maintained his belief in their guilt.
Meanwhile, a new Buzzfeed report provides an in-depth look at two 1995 murder investigations led by Guevara and his partner, Det. Ernest Halvorsen. The report details how they fabricated evidence, manipulated witnesses, and ignored statements that contradicted their theories—while supervisors and prosecutors overlooked glaring inconsistencies. In one case, Jose Melendez was acquitted; in the other, Thomas Sierra was convicted, served 22 years, and was released in November. Sierra is now seeking to have his conviction overturned.
CPD HAS BODY CAMS
All Chicago patrol officers are now equipped with body cameras, a year ahead of schedule, Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced.
Last year, the Chicago Reporter revealed the city bypassed standard contracting procedures to sign a five-year, $30 million deal with Taser International, committing to Taser’s cloud software for bodycam video storage.
With this rollout, CPD has implemented 16 of the 99 recommendations from the Justice Department’s January 2017 report, according to the Reporter's online tracker.
Still unaddressed or only partially implemented are key reforms, including improvements to investigations of officer-involved shootings—many requiring union contract changes—adequate staffing for the Crisis Intervention Team, Police Board reforms, and the development of a foot pursuit policy.
ENGLEWOOD FOUR SETTLEMENT APPROVED; FOP OBJECTS
The City Council approved a $31 million settlement for the Englewood Four on Dec. 13. The four men were exonerated of a 1995 rape and murder after spending over a decade in prison when DNA evidence identified a convicted murderer and sex offender as the real culprit.
During a Finance Committee hearing before the final vote, Fraternal Order of Police Vice President Martin Preib urged the council to reject the settlement, claiming “powerful evidence” implicated the four and accusing the city of “frivolously toss[ing] the reputations of Chicago police investigators under the bus.”
Preib cited a mop and shovel allegedly involved in the crime, which were found in a park lagoon where one defendant, Terrill Swift, had said they would be. Swift, however, has maintained that police fed him the information. A judge also questioned whether the items were actually linked to the crime.
Two Northwest Side aldermen opposed the settlement. Ald. Anthony Napolitano claimed there was “an overwhelming amount of evidence against the individuals,” while Ald. Nicholas Sposato said, “We’re giving $31 million to four individuals that I feel were somewhat, somehow, some way part of this.”
A Sun-Times editorial dismissed Preib’s arguments as “remarkably weak” and pointed to the larger issue: Chicago must demand major reforms in the collective bargaining agreement it is now negotiating with the FOP to prevent future miscarriages of justice.
DEVELOPMENTS IN LAQUAN MCDONALD CASE
Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan quashed a subpoena from Officer Jason Van Dyke’s attorneys seeking to compel journalist Jamie Kalven of the Invisible Institute to testify about his sources. Gaughan dismissed the subpoena as “a fishing expedition.”
A week later, Gaughan rejected a motion to dismiss the murder case against Van Dyke, who is charged in the 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald. Defense attorney Dan Herbert had argued that the indictment resulted from prosecutorial misconduct and political pressure.
Meanwhile, in two WVON interviews, former Supt. Garry McCarthy contradicted Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s claim that he was not briefed about discrepancies between police reports and dashcam video of McDonald’s shooting. Capitol Fax has details.
BURGE TORTURE TESTIMONY
Jackie Wilson, serving a life sentence as an accomplice in the 1982 killing of two police officers, testified in a hearing for a new trial that he was tortured by former Cmdr. Jon Burge. The hearing was ordered by the Illinois Torture Inquiry Commission, which found “credible evidence” of Wilson’s torture.
Former assistant state’s attorney Lawrence Hyman invoked the Fifth Amendment when called to testify, as did Burge in a previous deposition. Burge was convicted of perjury and obstruction of justice in 2010. A special prosecutor argued that Wilson was neither harmed nor coerced into confessing.
The Wilson case was pivotal in exposing systemic torture by Burge and his subordinates. During Andrew Wilson’s federal civil rights lawsuit, his attorneys received anonymous letters—apparently from a former officer—revealing a broader pattern of abuse. Burge was fired by the Police Board in 1993 after it found he had physically abused Andrew Wilson, who died in prison in 2007.
DISCIPLINARY SYSTEM UNDERCUT
The police union grievance process frequently leads to reduced discipline or full exoneration for officers found guilty of misconduct, often due to procedural issues such as delayed investigations, according to an investigation by the Chicago Tribune and ProPublica Illinois. This has occurred even in cases with clear evidence of wrongdoing, including neglect of duty, insubordination, drunken driving, domestic violence, and excessive force.
Since 2010, in 19 cases where officers were found to have given false statements during investigations, those findings were expunged from their records—about a fifth of all Rule 14 violations, which prohibit false reports. CPD now recommends termination for all Rule 14 violations, a decision not subject to the grievance process.
HEARING ON RACIAL PROFILING BY ATF
A panel of nine federal district judges heard expert testimony on allegations of entrapment and racial profiling by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The University of Chicago Federal Criminal Justice Clinic has filed motions on behalf of dozens of defendants, arguing that African Americans in Chicago—many with only minor criminal records—were disproportionately targeted in ATF stash-house sting operations and sentenced to decades or even life in prison.
JAIL POPULATION DOWN
With new bond court judges and an order from Cook County Chief Judge Timothy Evans mandating affordable bonds, the Cook County Jail population has dropped by more than 1,500, reaching 5,900 by year’s end—the lowest in decades. Since Evans’ order, the percentage of defendants released on individual recognizance bonds has risen from 25 percent to 60 percent, and bond amounts have significantly decreased. However, Sharlynn Grace of the Chicago Appleseed Fund for Justice noted that many judges continue to set cash bonds higher than defendants can afford.