A new judge is overseeing the case of a Chicago police officer and two former officers accused of conspiring to cover up what happened the night a white officer shot a black teenager 16 times.
Cook County Judge Diane Cannon was appointed to the case Monday involving Joseph Walsh, David March and Thomas Gaffney. The case stems from the 2014 death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
Cannon is a former prosecutor who, in 2015, acquitted a Chicago police commander who was charged with aggravated battery for allegedly shoving a gun down a suspect's throat.
Local activists who attended Monday's hearing didn't call on Cannon to recuse herself, saying they were confident in the judgment of the special prosecutor in the case.
The prosecutor, Patricia Brown Holmes, was appointed last year to lead an investigation into Laquan's shooting. She declined comment Monday.
A Chicago police officer and two former officers have pleaded not guilty to conspiring to cover up what happened the night a white officer shot a black teenager 16 times.
Joseph Walsh, David March and Thomas Gaffney made their first court appearances Monday since being indicted last month on charges stemming from the 2014 death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald.
The indictment alleges the officers lied by saying Laquan aggressively swung a knife and tried to get up, while still armed, after he was shot by Officer Jason Van Dyke. Dashcam video released a year later showed Laquan was walking away when he was shot.
The judge freed Walsh, March and Gaffney on their own recognizance Monday. If convicted, they could face prison time.
Van Dyke has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.
___
6 a.m.
Three Chicago police officers are scheduled to be arraigned on charges that they conspired to cover up the actions of a white colleague who fatally shot a black teenager 16 times.
The three haven't been arrested and are being allowed to show up at the hearing Monday on their own accord.
The indictment alleges that the officers lied when they said 17-year-old Laquan McDonald "aggressively" swung a knife and tried to get up from the ground while still armed after he was shot on Oct. 20, 2014.
Officer Jason Van Dyke is charged with first-degree murder in the death. He has pleaded not guilty.
The indictments mark the latest chapter in the history of a police force dogged by allegations of racism and brutality against the city's black residents.