Chicago lawyer resigns after judge rules he hid evidence

An attorney in Chicago working for the administration of Rahm Emanuel announced his resignation Tuesday after a federal judge ruled he had intentionally hid crucial evidence in a trial over a fatal police shooting and then lied about his reasons for doing so, local press reported. U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang also dismissed a jury’s findings that the shooting of Darius Pinex in 2011 was justified, ordered a new trial and the city to pay attorney’s fees to the plaintiff.

The officers, Raoul Mosqueda and Gildardo Sierra, said they opened fire as Pinex refused orders and put his auto in reverse. Officers said they had no recollection of stopping Hadnott and hadn’t filled out a “contact card” about the incident, according to Salon.com. About halfway through the trial Marsh admitted, in the absence of the jury, that he had neglected to turn over a recording of the broadcast that actually aired over the officers’ Zone 6 radios the evening Pinex was killed.

Torreya L. Hamilton, a private lawyer, said Chang also sanctioned the city’s law department for not being forthcoming with evidence in a case in which she was helping represent a man who accused police of false arrest and an illegal search.

Another step, Fairley said, is restructuring the agency’s 90-member staff. The shakeup will involve new hires, including chief of staff Annette Moore, former associate director of admissions at the University of Chicago Law School, and chief investigator Jay Westensee, who is leaving a similar job with the city’s Office of Inspector General.

Corporation Counsel Stephen Patton – Chicago’s top legal officer who handles civil claims against the city – told the Chicago Tribune on Monday that the city is doubling down on its efforts to train lawyers on producing records. The judge also reportedly criticized the department for its careless record-keeping, which he said resulted in the problem of the Pinex case.

The city of Chicago has paid out $5.5 million to 57 people whose claims that they were tortured by police decades ago were found to be credible.

Given the harsh language used in Chang’s ruling, Emanuel was asked whether the Law Department was part of the “code of silence” that the mayor has openly acknowledged exists in the Chicago Police Department. “You know in retrospect I think I should have, but I wanted to talk to the sergeant and to see whether it was even relevant”.

Protests sparked by the video included some directed at IPRA, which was created in 2007, ostensibly with the independence it needed to hold officers accountable. The man, Quintonio LeGrier, was also killed.

In the LeGrier and Jones shooting, Jones’ five children on Monday filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city.

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