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In an unexpected turnaround, moments after the announcement that a jury had discovered that a Chicago police officer had shot and unjustifiably killed a teenager armed with bats, the judge overturned the decision to learn that the jurors had also feared for his life.
The chaotic conclusion of the trial at the Daley Center courthouse occurred Wednesday night after the Cook County jury delivered its verdict after three and a half hours of deliberations.
The announcement was made in the courtroom of Judge Rena Marie Van Tine that the jurors had sided in favor of Quintonio LeGrier's parents, who sued the city and the agent Robert Rialmo, awarding them $ 1.05 million in damages.
But a few moments later, it was revealed that the jurors had also signed what is called a special interrogation, finding that Rialmo had fired in a reasonable fear of death or great bodily harm, a decision that was in contradiction with the verdict.
Van Tine then found that the interrogation exceeded and found in favor of Railmo.
The jury foreman subsequently responded to the journalists' question, suggesting that he expected the damages of $ 1.05 million to be badessed.
The wild end has crowned an eight-day lawsuit that has marked the culmination of two and a half years of legal wrangling over one of the most conflictual shootings in the recent history of a police department. still undergoing reforms to prevent the controversial use of force.
The shooting in the West Side also killed Bettie Jones, an innocent bystander of 55, but the city avoided a lawsuit with her family by recently reaching a settlement plan of $ 16 million.
In an unusual twist, Rialmo had also sued LeGrier, blaming him for the shoot. The jurors found in favor of Rialmo but did not give money to the officer.
The LeGrier shootout unfolded while Rialmo and her partner responded at approximately 4:30 am on December 26, 2015 to an indoor disturbance in an apartment in the 4700 block of West Erie Street, where the apartment was located. teenager lived with his father. LeGrier was apparently plagued by mental health issues and had contact with the police while he was studying at Northern Illinois University.
The shooting was politically explosive since it took place just a month after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced by a judge to publish 16 times the video of a police officer shooting a black teen, Laquan McDonald. The release of the video gave rise to a political storm that highlighted longstanding issues in a police department, with a record of abuse and misconduct.
During Wednesday's final argument, lawyer Basileios Foutris, who represents the LeGrier family, pointed to the parts of the lawsuit that suggested that Rialmo – who gave different statements about the shooting – was standing 10 feet or more of the teenager when he shot.
The attorney argued that the statements of the agent placing him a few feet from LeGrier were concocted to justify a bad shootout.
Like a mantra, Foutris repeated: "Distance matters."
"Quintonio was not a threat to him, period," Foutris said.
Foutris asked the jurors to grant up to $ 25 million to the LeGrier family.
Defending the city, private attorney Brian Gainer, argued that a few seconds pbaded as officers – responding to calls from a domestic disturbance – reached the main entrance of the building and LeGrier tumbled down the stairs and rushed to Rialmo and his partner with the bat in his hand. LeGrier presented an immediate deadly threat, said Gainer, though he was 5 feet or more than 20 feet from Rialmo when he shot.
"It happened like this," Gainer said, snapping his fingers. "There is no" break "button."
Gainer argued that discrepancies in the reports of police shootings demonstrate their credibility. If officers conspired to prepare a story, Gainer said, "This is, without a doubt, the worst conspiracy in the history of conspiracies.
Rialmo made the unconventional gesture of hiring his own lawyer, Joel Brodsky, to represent him alongside the city's lawyers. Brodsky asked the jurors to consider whether they expected the cops to be in danger or farther away. He also claimed that LeGrier "wanted to be killed by the police".
The shooting has been politically divisive since it took place just a month after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced by a judge to publish 16 times the video of a police officer shooting at a black teenager, Laquan McDonald. The release of the video gave rise to a political storm that highlighted longstanding issues in a police department, with a record of abuse and misconduct. Reforms are underway about two and a half years later.
The lawsuit on the LeGrier family's trial focused primarily on two key topics: whether the teenager brandished the bat in Rialmo while the officer was testifying and the distance that separated the two when Rialmo fired. The lawyers also repeatedly returned to the fact that most balls came from behind.
The experts hired by the city and the LeGrier family expressed contradictory opinions.
A forensic expert called by the LeGrier family testified that the teenager was standing at least 10 feet from Rialmo at the time of the shooting. A pathologist hired by the LeGrier family said that the teenager's injuries and other evidence contradicted Rialmo's story that the teenager had raised the bat before being shot .
However, city lawyers called a pathologist who said it was possible that LeGrier had the bat raised when he was shot.
Rialmo himself demonstrated for the jurors how he said LeGrier swung the bat toward him. The agent said that the teen came to 2 or 3 feet from him.
The city also called an expert on the use of force who testified that Rialmo had the right to fire – even if LeGrier was not fighting – because the teenager posed an immediate threat.
This shock of expert opinion reflects the disagreement between Police Commissioner Eddie Johnson and the Disciplinary Officers' Office of the City, the Civil Bureau of Police Liability. COPA ruled the shooting unjustified and recommended that the officer be fired, while Johnson disagreed and ruled that the shooting was justified.
The Chicago Police Board has not yet decided whether Rialmo should be fired.
Rialmo, who is on paid service, also remains under investigation for a fight in a bar in December 2017 in which he hit two men in the face in an altercation taken on video security. Brodsky said Rialmo was defending himself.
Complaining the lawsuit, Brodsky made the unorthodox move to sue the LeGrier estate, alleging that the teenager was to blame for the shooting and seek damages. The jury found in favor of Rialmo but did not award any compensation.
Only a small part of the trial concerned the Brodsky trial. In conclusion, Foutris called the trial "insensitive" and pointed out to the jury that Rialmo was not in the courts. Rialmo did not attend most of the trial, while Brodsky was in court intermittently.
"Apparently, (Rialmo) has better things to do," said Foutris.
Brodsky argued that the shooting was "traumatic" and "life changing" for Rialmo.
"(LeGrier) has forced officer Rialmo to take his life, and, tragically, tragically, the life of Bettie Jones," said Brodsky.
"It was Quintonio's fault."
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