Lawyer: Police shooting of black teen deserves second look

The autopsy found the Northern Illinois University student had marijuana in his system.

The county prosecutors have asked the FBI to investigate the shooting.

We talk with Brian Coffman, an attorney representing the boy’s family. Officer Jason Van Dyke, who is white, was indicted with six counts of first-degree murder in the death of the 17-year-old McDonald, who is black, but pleaded not guilty. Minutes before the shooting, he said, Chatman refused officers’ orders and jumped out of a vehicle after grabbing the item that turned out to be the box. “Running away.” WATCH: Full video from three cameras of Cedrick Chatman’s shootingThe attorneys say the videos contradict statements from police that Officer Fry feared for his life when Chatman turned and pointed a dark object at police.

The video shows Officer Lou Toth in “hot pursuit” of Chatman on a sidewalk.

Fry can be seen trailing behind Toth, aiming his gun at Chatman from a crosswalk and firing as the teen began rounding the corner in front of a bodega.

When it comes to the Chatman case, Boykin believes the officers also pursued a shoot first, ask questions later mentality.

Both said they believed the teenager was armed.

Speaking to the Chicago Tribune, Davis further stated, “Cedrick was just running as the shots were fired“.

The Independent Police Review Authority, the city agency that investigates police shootings, cleared Fry – the officer who shot Chatman – of any wrongdoing.

Black pastors and community leaders said they would boycott Emanuel’s annual Martin Luther King prayer breakfast on Friday in protest over the city’s handling of police shootings and misconduct complaints.

The city has fought this move tooth and nail, but on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman ordered its release.

“I went to a lot of trouble to decide this issue, and then I get this motion last night saying that this is the Age of Enlightenment with the city and we’re going to be transparent”.

Initially, the city stuck to its longstanding policy of keeping police videos private.

“The video supports Officer Fry’s observation that (Chatman) was pointing a firearm at Officer Toth”, Hunt wrote.

Neither officer was ever charged or disciplined in connection with this shooting.

On why the city made a decision to stop fighting the release of the tape, Stephen R. Patton from Chicago’s Law Department said,”With respect to the release of videos of police incidents, the City of Chicago is working to find the right balance between the public’s interest in disclosure and the importance of protecting the integrity of investigations and the judicial process”.

Chicago has long held that police videos and other evidence should be kept private until legal actions are completed, but Mayor Rahm Emanuel has said that a task force would re-examine that policy. They urged the release of the video to the public as part of that case.

Police said that Chatman and two others, Akeem Clarke and Martel Odum, robbed a man who was selling a cell phone.

A Chatman family lawyer says the video will show he never turned and posed no threat. That came after the city – in a surprise about-face – dropped its longstanding opposition to making it public.

It’s not clear how soon the city will release the footage of Cedrick Chatman’s death if the judge lifts a protective order, as expected. Once Davis was sacked, the board cleared Fry and Toth and allowed both of the officers to return to work.