The grand jury that indicted a Chicago police officer for Laquan McDonald’s killing was wrongly told that police officers tampered with audio and video recordings of the shooting and that the 17-year-old was shot in the back at first, an attorney for the officer said Friday in court as he again urged a judge to dismiss the charges.
Attorneys for Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke filed a second motion Friday to throw out the first-degree murder charges, saying that Cook County prosecutors "misinformed" the grand jury in their haste to secure an indictment before explosive video of the shooting was released by court order.
"There was a rush to sacrifice Jason Van Dyke to the angry mob out there," attorney Daniel Herbert told a judge as the suspended officer stood by his side in Judge Vincent Gaughan’s courtroom in the Leighton Criminal Court Building.
Herbert previously filed a motion to dismiss the charges on allegations that prosecutors improperly presented to the grand jury statements that police present at McDonald’s shooting were required to give.
Dashcam video: The shooting of Laquan McDonald
This excerpt from video released to the public shows the most complete version of the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. It is edited for length by the Chicago Tribune. Warning: This video contains graphic images.
This excerpt from video released to the public shows the most complete version of the shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. It is edited for length by the Chicago Tribune. Warning: This video contains graphic images.
See more videos
Gaughan, the subject of a front-page Tribune story Friday that detailed the secrecy surrounding his handling of the case, had withheld releasing a legal memorandum filed by the defense in support of its initial motion to dismiss. But a copy of the public filing was provided by Gaughan’s clerk to a Tribune reporter after Friday’s hearing.
The judge also said in court that he would hold any evidentiary hearings on the motions to dismiss in public.
Before singer R. Kelly’s child pornography trial in 2008, Gaughan had cleared the courtroom of everyone but the attorneys and a court reporter for secret hearings on several occasions.
The dashboard camera video of the white police officer shooting the black teen has caused a firestorm of controversy and led to a blistering report by the U.S. Justice Department that portrayed a broken Police Department in which officers commit misconduct and use excessive force with little fear of repercussions.
Judge’s secrecy shrouds case of Chicago cop charged with killing Laquan McDonald Steve Schmadeke
The longtime Cook County judge overseeing the first-degree murder case against Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke has talked tough on transparency.
At a recent hearing, Judge Vincent Gaughan scolded a city attorney for seeking to keep emails related to the high-profile case out of public view,…
The longtime Cook County judge overseeing the first-degree murder case against Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke has talked tough on transparency.
At a recent hearing, Judge Vincent Gaughan scolded a city attorney for seeking to keep emails related to the high-profile case out of public view,…
(Steve Schmadeke)
The video showed Van Dyke opening fire within seconds of exiting his police SUV as McDonald walked away from police with a knife in his hand, contradicting many of the officers’ written accounts that the teen had lunged at police with the knife. Van Dyke emptied his gun, shooting the youth 16 times.
Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson is seeking to fire Van Dyke and four other officers whose accounts did not match the video.
sschmadeke@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @SteveSchmadeke
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