Legal analyst Irv Miller: Murder charges should never have been filed in shooting that killed man who was punching woman
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A Chicago mother is expected to speak on Tuesday, after charges were dropped against her and her 14-year-old son in a shooting that left a man dead in West Pullman – after video showed the man punching the woman.
CBS 2 Legal Analyst Irv Miller said Monday that the murder charges should never have been filed.
As CBS 2 Political Investigator Dana Kozlov reported, Carlishia Hood, 35, and her son had been charged with first-degree murder in the slaying of 32-year-old Jeremy Brown on Sunday, June 18, at the Maxwell Street Express at 11656 S. Halsted St. The teenage boy had been accused of shooting and killing Brown at his mother's direction.
Hood, who was a valid FOID card and concealed carry license holder at the time of the incident, was also charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor.
Police initially released security video from inside the Maxwell Street Express that only showed Hood and her son – the latter with his face blurred as he pulls a gun.
But then, cellphone video, also from inside the Maxwell Street Express, surfaced on social media. The video shows Brown threatening and punching Hood in the head as they stand in line at the short-order eatery – and attacking her into a corner – before her son fires the shot.
"I don't know where the mistake is," Miller said. "I think there's multiple mistakes."
Miller said there were multiple mistakes by Cook County prosecutors, and he said murder charges should never have been filed.
"You saw this woman getting hit multiple times. Illinois law allows you to defend yourself if you're being attacked, but it also mandates that if you see somebody else being attacked, you have the right to use deadly force in a situation like this to defend that other person," Miller said, "and that video is exactly what the statute is referring to."
The Cook County State's Attorney's office dropped the charges Monday morning. Hood walked out of the Cook County Jail after being locked up for almost five days.
Her son – whom we are not identifying - was also freed from the Cook County Juvenile Temporary Detention Center after being locked up for the same amount of time.
In a statement, Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's office said the decision was "based upon our continued review and in light of emerging evidence."
"Based upon the facts, evidence, and the law we are unable to meet our burden of proof in the prosecution of these cases," Foxx's office added.
But considering the angle of the security camera inside the restaurant, why did investigations not release the portion of the video showing Brown beating Hood?
In court documents, an assistant state's attorney even states Brown "punched (Hood) in the head three times" - but never brings up self-defense.
Prosecutors also stated Hood's son "fired additional shots" at Brown, but the portion of the security video they released never shows that.
Why not? Why did it take the video showing Brown attacking Hood for the State's Attorney's office to state they could no longer meet their burden of proof in the case?
"I think the State's Attorney owed a little bit more to the family and to the public as to what happened in this case; why it went this far," said Miller. "It should not have gotten this far."
Kozlov emailed a Cook County State's Attorney's spokeswoman some specific questions about the case – including when prosecutors became aware of the cellphone video, and whether the security camera showed the beating. The spokeswoman did not respond.
The family is expected to file a lawsuit on Tuesday.