Vol. 2, Issue 68: Chicago's Criminal Justice Playbook
At Issue: Northwestern, Protess Settles Lawsuit
A lawsuit against Northwestern University and former professor David Protess, alleging they conspired to frame one man in order to free another, has been quietly settled for an undisclosed amount. Neither Northwestern nor Protess admitted wrongdoing (Chicago Tribune).
Reports indicate that the settlement amount was less than the cost of legal fees to continue the defense. The lawsuit had sought $40 million. Private investigator Paul Ciolino was also dismissed from the lawsuit.
The plaintiff, Alstory Simon, confessed in 1999 to a 1982 double murder and spent 15 years in prison. In 2014, then-State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez—engaged in an ongoing battle with Northwestern and Protess—disregarded the results of an investigation by her office and vacated Simon’s conviction. In 2015, a Cook County judge denied Simon a certificate of innocence.
Simon’s confession—which he repeated several times in court statements and letters—led to the release of Anthony Porter, who had been sentenced to death for the murders, and to then-Governor George Ryan declaring a moratorium on the death penalty.
Simon was freed after his case was taken up by a team of lawyers with backgrounds in defending police, including former Commander Jon Burge, in other wrongful conviction cases. They then sued Northwestern, Protess, and Ciolino, alleging they manufactured evidence and coerced Simon into confessing.
Still pending is a defamation lawsuit filed by Ciolino against Simon, his attorneys, and Alvarez. Ciolino claimed that Simon’s attorneys settled to halt the discovery process because they did not want their client deposed. Simon “can’t keep his story straight,” Ciolino said (Chicago Sun-Times).
AMID PROTESTS, POLICE ACADEMY FUNDING APPROVED
Despite competing protests, a parliamentary delay, and a lawsuit, Mayor Rahm Emanuel won a key vote to provide funding for his proposed police and fire training academy by a margin of 39 to 2.
On May 23, the City Council approved the transfer of $20 million from the sale of the city’s fleet maintenance facility on Goose Island to fund the academy’s construction. The project is projected to cost $95 million. Last November, the council appropriated $10 million to cover land purchase costs (Chicago Tribune).
On Tuesday, May 22, the budget committee approved the fund transfer over the objections of protesters, some of whom were removed from the hearing by police (Chicago Sun-Times). Think Progress reported that the night before the committee hearing, police threatened to arrest activists if they staged speakouts against the academy on CTA trains (Think Progress).
At Wednesday’s council meeting, Aldermen Carlos Ramirez Rosa (35th) and David Moore (17th) moved to postpone consideration of the proposal until the next meeting. Alderman Edward Burke (14th) proposed adjourning and reconvening on Friday afternoon, and Emanuel adjourned the meeting for two days (Chicago Sun-Times).
Anti-academy protesters faced off against nearly 200 off-duty police officers who responded to a demonstration call by the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) (Chicago Tribune). The FOP denounced the suspension of Officer Robert Rialmo, who faces possible firing following the fatal shootings of two West Side residents in 2015, as well as disciplinary actions against other officers. The union also charged that “Emanuel is ... selling officers out in a federal consent decree that would give anti-police groups a voice in police oversight” (Chicago Sun-Times). Emanuel responded, stating, “You have people on either side of the issue criticizing, and in my view, we’re down the middle of the fairway” (Chicago Sun-Times).
President Donald Trump tweeted support for officers protesting “an administration that won’t let them do their jobs,” inaccurately stating that Chicago’s murder rate continues to increase (Chicago Tribune). The FOP later issued a press release offering a $1,000 reward for information about an anti-academy protester who appeared to spit on an FOP member as the two groups faced off at City Hall (Fraternal Order of Police).
Shortly after the Wednesday meeting, the Latino Caucus expelled Rosa. According to a statement by Aldermen Rick Muñoz (22nd) and Gilbert Villegas (36th), Rosa was expelled due to inadequate participation. Rosa suggested the move was at the mayor’s bidding, in retaliation for his opposition to the academy (Chicago Reader).
On Thursday, community groups filed a lawsuit charging that the budget committee had violated the Open Meetings Act by holding its vote before hearing public comment and that Wednesday’s council meeting was improperly “recessed” rather than adjourned, as required by Rosa and Moore’s motion (Chicago Tribune). On Friday, a judge denied the groups’ request for a temporary restraining order preventing the council from acting on the matter (Chicago Tribune).
At Friday’s council meeting, West Side aldermen supported the measure, portraying it as a catalyst for economic development. Voting against were Rosa and Muñoz. Moore supported the measure, stating that the mayor’s office had provided him with information in response to his concerns about project funding sources.
City officials stated that additional funding for the two-building campus will come from the sale of other police and fire facilities. The Chicago Infrastructure Trust will determine how to raise the remaining $40 million, either through bonds, a lease buy-back, or a “straight loan” (Chicago Sun-Times).
COALITION ISSUES CONSENT DECREE DEMANDS
A coalition of civil rights groups issued a set of demands regarding a consent decree currently being negotiated in federal court by the city and the Illinois attorney general (Chicago Sun-Times; Chicago Tribune). The groups, including Black Lives Matter, the Chicago Urban League, and the NAACP, sued the city last year demanding judicial oversight for police reform and secured an agreement allowing them to monitor the consent decree.
The groups’ wide-ranging demands include: overhauling the Chicago Police Department’s (CPD) new use-of-force policy to require that officers use the least force necessary and de-escalate incidents as soon as possible; establishing a comprehensive pre-arrest diversion program; creating an oversight system with an elected council independent from City Hall; and developing a public database that reports immediately on misconduct complaints and use-of-force incidents. Additionally, the groups call for removing CPD officers from schools.
According to the agreement, the city and attorney general must respond to the demands and “where feasible and appropriate” provide alternative proposals. The agreement establishes a September 1 deadline for a consent decree to be filed in court. Information on the consent decree and the coalition’s demands is available on its website (CPD Class Action).
ANGER AT HEARING ON OVERSIGHT
The first public hearing on May 16 regarding competing proposals for a civilian oversight body ended abruptly when angry participants rejected the format, which divided them into small group discussions (Chicago Tribune). Subsequent hearings followed a standard hearing format, allowing participants time to comment (Chicago Sun-Times). The City Council’s public safety committee is currently considering four competing proposals (NPR).
RULING IN LAQUAN MCDONALD MURDER TRIAL
Officer Jason Van Dyke’s attorneys will be allowed to present expert testimony on the effects of PCP and call a witness whom Laquan McDonald allegedly attacked while high on the drug, Judge Vincent Gaughan ruled on May 31. Van Dyke is expected to go on trial for McDonald’s murder this summer (Chicago Tribune).
Van Dyke’s attorneys will be permitted to argue that McDonald’s shooting was the first time Van Dyke fired his weapon in 13 years on the force but will not be able to discuss the fact that police brass signed off on the shooting in its aftermath.
For the first time, Van Dyke’s attorneys indicated that the officer may take the stand in his defense. Such testimony is generally essential in cases where defendants claim self-defense, but the existence of a video of the shooting means “this case presents very different circumstances,” one legal expert stated (Chicago Sun-Times).
For the third time, Gaughan ordered a spectator held in contempt. Following a two-second outburst by the man, Gaughan ordered that he be jailed without bail until a July 10 hearing—over four weeks away—and given a mental health screening (NPR).
Earlier, the Illinois Supreme Court ordered that pretrial motions be filed and made publicly accessible in the County Court Clerk’s office. The order resulted from a petition by seven media organizations arguing that Gaughan violated the First Amendment’s presumption of public access to records by requiring motions to be filed in his chambers. It is unclear whether the order requires Gaughan to unseal the dozens of filings he has kept secret (Chicago Tribune).
RULINGS IN LEGRIER, JONES LAWSUITS
Cook County Judge James O’Hara has denied a motion requesting sanctions against city attorneys in a lawsuit filed by the family of Quintonio LeGrier, who was fatally shot by Officer Robert Rialmo in 2015. Questions posed by lawyers during a deposition of LeGrier’s mother regarding the circumstances of his conception—which his family’s attorney called “contemptible”—and allegations that a paramedic changed his testimony after conferring with city attorneys “do not amount to sanctionable conduct,” O’Hara ruled (Chicago Tribune).
O’Hara previously ruled that depositions given by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Superintendent Eddie Johnson in wrongful death lawsuits brought by the families of LeGrier and his neighbor, Bettie Jones, will be made public once a jury is impaneled. The case is set to go to trial on June 6 (Chicago Sun-Times).
The Chicago Police Board is currently considering a recommendation by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) that Rialmo be fired for violating CPD’s use-of-force policy in the shooting. Johnson has opposed the recommendation.
RULE 14 VIOLATIONS: TWO FIRED, TWO SUSPENDED
The Chicago Police Board voted unanimously to terminate two veteran officers, Kevin Fry and Robert Lobianco, after security camera footage contradicted their report on a 2013 domestic violence arrest in which the suspect was beaten and hospitalized. Both officers had accumulated numerous civilian complaints over their careers but had never faced discipline.
Fry was previously cleared in the fatal 2013 shooting of Cedrick Chatman, who was unarmed. Fry contended that Chatman turned and pointed a dark object at officers, which was later revealed to be a cellphone case (Chicago Tribune).
At the same police board meeting, two officers received two-year suspensions for providing false statements about a 2004 high-speed pursuit that ended in a crash, seriously injuring a teenage girl. The board cited “unusually compelling character witness testimony” as a factor in its decision not to fire Officers Luis Lopez and Daniel Feliciano.
Regarding the 14-year investigation, the Chicago Tribune observed: “The tangled maze of disciplinary investigations that unfolded … appears to be a textbook example of the longstanding failures of the city’s system of police accountability” (Chicago Tribune).
CANDIDATES CLASH
In a May 14 press conference, mayoral challenger Paul Vallas stated that “bad decisions” by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and a “lack of consistency in funding” for the police department had “contributed to the spike in crime.” Vallas unveiled a plan to increase the Chicago Police Department (CPD) to 14,000 officers (Chicago Sun-Times).
Vallas “may be trying to one-up Emanuel,” who pledged in 2011 to add police but instead relied largely on overtime to increase police presence before launching a hiring program last year (Chicago Tribune). CPD currently has nearly 13,000 officers, with a goal of reaching 13,535 by the end of the year.
Vallas outlined a range of new spending proposals, including a new leadership academy for police supervisors, a return to five detective areas, and a First Responders College at City Colleges to attract ROTC students from Chicago Public Schools. His funding ideas included a Police Enterprise Fund using asset confiscation, new fines for gun violations, and other “income-generating activities.”
He also called for phasing out security officers at Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) and replacing them with full-time CPD officers. Additionally, he endorsed eliminating provisions in the police union contract that support the code of silence.
Emanuel criticized Vallas’ plan as “policing without prevention.” Vallas stated that he plans to release violence reduction proposals in the future (Chicago Tribune).
Meanwhile, Emanuel allies in the City Council called for an “independent review” of all decisions by the Chicago Police Board under Lori Lightfoot (Chicago Sun-Times). Lightfoot was appointed board president by Emanuel in 2015 and resigned shortly before announcing her mayoral candidacy in May.
Lightfoot’s campaign dismissed the demand as “a complete political stunt, clearly born out of fear,” emphasizing that “no one member has the ability to sway or change the course of any particular case” on the nine-member board (Chicago Sun-Times).
COURT CLERK DELAYS STALL APPEALS
Post-conviction petitions by dozens of incarcerated men are stalled because the Cook County Circuit Court Clerk’s office, led by Dorothy Brown, is unable to locate their trial records. Additionally, the State Appellate Defender’s Cook County office reports that more than 600 of its cases, at various stages of appeal, are currently delayed due to the clerk’s office’s backlog in digitizing paper records. The Better Government Association first reported on Brown’s record retrieval issues in 2013. Brown attributes the delays to staff shortages caused by budget cuts.
The Chicago Reader highlights the case of James Allen, whose post-conviction hearing was delayed for three years while the clerk’s office failed to provide his trial record. Three days after the Reader contacted Brown about the case, her staff located Allen’s missing files (Chicago Reader).
BOUDREAU TESTIFIES
Retired Detective Kenneth Boudreau, a prominent former member of Jon Burge’s detective unit, testified on May 14 that his only contact with a man who alleges he was beaten into giving a false confession was when he delivered the man lunch. The Illinois Torture Inquiry and Review Commission granted George Anderson a hearing on his claim that his confession to a 2014 murder was coerced. Boudreau has been named in nearly 40 wrongful confession lawsuits (Chicago Sun-Times).
MORE GUEVARA LAWSUITS
Former Detective Reynaldo Guevara is expected to testify in a wrongful conviction lawsuit set to go to trial on June 3. Jacques Rivera was convicted of a 1988 murder based on the testimony of a 12-year-old boy, who has long maintained that police and prosecutors ignored him when he told them he had identified the wrong suspect. Rivera alleges that Guevara coerced the boy into making the false identification. Rivera was released in 2011 when a judge ordered a new trial and prosecutors dropped the charges against him (Chicago Tribune).
Another lawsuit has also been filed against Guevara and the city, alleging that the detective framed a man for murder. Ariel Gomez was 17 when he claims Guevara beat him during a lengthy interrogation and framed him for a 1997 murder. Sentenced to 35 years in prison, Gomez was paroled last year, and prosecutors moved to vacate his conviction in February. Eighteen people have been exonerated based on claims of misconduct by Guevara (Chicago Sun-Times).
WRONGFUL CONVICTION SETTLEMENTS COULD SKYROCKET
Chicago has paid out hundreds of millions of dollars in police misconduct cases, but that expenditure could rise significantly due to current and future lawsuits from individuals who allege they were framed by former Sergeant Ronald Watts or Detective Reynaldo Guevara. These cases could surpass the $115 million paid out to settle torture cases involving former Commander Jon Burge.
“Watts and Guevara handled tons more cases than Burge,” said David Erickson, a former state appellate judge who teaches at Chicago-Kent College of Law. The drug convictions of more than three dozen men arrested by Watts and his team have been overturned in recent months, and the Exoneration Project has requested that another 70 convictions tied to Watts be vacated (Associated Press).