Chicago Police Officer Not Guilty in 2003 Beating of Black Man: Video Recording Not Good Enough

 
A Chicago Police officer on trial in the videotaped beating of a man outside the Cabrini-Green public housing complex was found not guilty of all the charges against him Tuesday.As Judge Joseph Kazmierski announced the verdict, more than a dozen supporters of officer Bryan Vander Mey -- including other Chicago Police officers -- burst into loud applause in the 26th and California courtroom. In a very brief statement, Kazmierski said he agreed with the trial witnesses who described the grainy videotape footage as unclear and chaotic. Afterward, a tearful Vander Mey hugged supporters, including his wife, with whom he had been sitting hand in hand prior to the judge's decision Tuesday. Vander Mey was charged with multiple counts each of official misconduct and battery in the April 17, 2003, beating of Rondell Freeman, 29. At the time, police had an arrest warrant for a man accompanying Freeman. During the trial, Vander Mey's police partner, Joseph Groh, testified that it "appeared" to be Vander Mey on the home-made video. But Groh said he couldn't be 100 percent sure, and he testified he never actually witnessed Vander Mey beat anyone. No officers testified they witnessed Vander Mey strike Freeman.[more]