by Tim Lynch
From the Chicago Tribune:
One by one, five police
officers took the witness stand at the Skokie courthouse late last month for
what would typically be a routine hearing on whether evidence in a drug case
was properly obtained.
But in a “Perry Mason” moment
rarely seen inside an actual courtroom, the inquiry took a surprising turn when
the suspect’s lawyer played a police video that contradicted the sworn
testimony of the five officers — three from Chicago and two from Glenview, a
furious judge found.
Cook County Circuit Judge
Catherine Haberkorn suppressed the search and arrest, leading prosecutors to
quickly dismiss the felony charges. All five officers were later stripped of
their police powers and put on desk duty pending internal investigations. And the
state’s attorney’s office is looking into possible criminal violations,
according to spokeswoman Sally Daly.
“Obviously, this is very
outrageous conduct,” a transcript of the March 31 hearing quoted the judge, a
former county prosecutor, as saying. “All officers lied on the stand today. …
All their testimony was a lie. So there’s strong evidence it was conspiracy to
lie in this case, for everyone to come up with the same lie. … Many, many,
many, many times they all lied.”
What would have happened here
had there been no video? What about
other cases handled by these cops? Was
this the very first instance of dishonesty?
