A Frankfort
police officer has been charged with intimidation and phone harassment, charges
related to his alleged beating of a former girlfriend in the summer of 2012.
Officer
Donald Walsh, 30, of Monee, was arrested Wednesday in a Will County courtroom.
His bail was set at $50,000.
He’s accused
of threatening the woman in a June 2012 phone call that she secretly recorded —
about a month before Walsh allegedly choked and struck her at her Mokena
residence. The woman kept a copy of the recording and gave another copy to her
sister, who locked it in a safe-deposit box, prosecutors said.
Walsh has
denied attacking the woman. He has been on administrative leave without pay
since his arrest in July 2012.
Mokena
police learned about the telephone recording when the attorneys in Walsh’s
battery case did — when told by the victim’s sister at the start of Walsh’s
trial on Nov. 20.
Mokena
police had investigated the July 2012 attack for criminal purposes, but
Frankfort police conducted an internal inquiry for disciplinary reasons.
Frankfort Police Chief John Burica and Deputy Chief Robert Krause testified
during a recent hearing on the recording that they discussed it with village
attorney David Silverman and decided the tape would not be used in their
disciplinary case against Walsh.
The two
police officials said they did not tell Mokena police or the special prosecutor
in the battery case that the recording existed.
Circuit
Court Judge Edward Burmila found that to be a violation of the evidentiary
process and said Wednesday that the prosecution will not be allowed to use the
recorded call in the battery trial, which is set to resume Jan. 13.
Defense rests in trial of
ex-Fullerton officers charged with killing homeless man
SANTA ANA, California — A defense
pathologist testified Wednesday that a homeless man who died after a 2011
struggle with Fullerton police had an enlarged heart from years of
methamphetamine abuse.
Dr. Steven Karch said Kelly Thomas
probably suffered heart failure during the struggle, the Orange County Register
reported (http://bit.ly/1cRFHvm
).
Thomas' death was "precipitated by
a spontaneous and concurrent psychotic episode" brought about by his drug
use that was a factor in his violent encounter with police, Karch testified.
Karch said he disagreed with an Orange
County pathologist who conducted the autopsy and concluded that Thomas died, in
part, from lack of oxygen to the brain caused by compression of his chest and
head injuries received during the confrontation.
Karch was the 13th and final witness
called by the defense in the trial of two former Fullerton police officers.
Manuel Ramos, 39, has pleaded not
guilty to second-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter, and Jay Cicinelli,
41, has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter and use of excessive
force.
A third officer will be tried
separately on a charge of involuntary manslaughter.
Thomas, 37, had a history of drug use,
citations for minor crimes and violent behavior. The officers' attorneys argued
that he became violently combative after he was stopped and questioned July 5,
2011. He stopped breathing and was removed from life support five days later.
Much of the incident was captured by a
security camera and audio recordings from officers' body microphones. The case
garnered national attention at the time and fueled months of local protests
that led to the resignation of the police chief and a recall election in the
small college town.