Judge Orders Release Of Videos Showing Another Fatal Police Shooting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A federal judge has ordered the release of another video depicting a deadly shooting by Chicago police officers.
U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman said he was "very disturbed" about the way the city suddenly dropped its objections to making the videos public, after as recently as three weeks ago having argued their release could compromise jury selection for the pending trial in a lawsuit filed by 17-year-old Cedrick Chatman's family.
"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," said U.S. District Judge Robert Gettleman. "I think it's irresponsible."
Earlier this week, city lawyers filed a motion with Gettleman to vacate his earlier protective orders preventing the release of the videos.
"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," said Steve Patton, the city's top lawyer.
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After Gettleman ordered the videos made public, a city Law Department spokesman said the videos would be made available to the media Thursday afternoon.
Chatman, 17, was shot by police in January 2013, and his family wants surveillance videos of the shooting made public as they push forward with a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city and two police officers.
Officers were chasing Chatman in connection with a car theft when police shot him.
Even though the city recently agreed to release videos of two other fatal police shootings – the cases of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald and 25-year-old Ronald Johnson – city attorneys had been fighting to keep footage of Chatman's death under wraps until this week.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the decision to stop fighting the release of the videos is part of a change in how the city handles police shootings.
Reviewing the process of releasing videos of police-involved incidents is one of the objectives of the mayor's Police Accountability Task Force, which he announced last month after firing Police Supt. Garry McCarthy.
Emanuel said, for decades, city policy had been not to release videos or other materials that might be part of a criminal investigation or disciplinary procedure.
"We're in the middle of transition to a different policy, as it relates to transparency and letting that material out, and the decision there is exactly an example of that," the mayor said.
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The officers involved in the shooting, Kevin Fry and Lou Toth, are being represented by attorney Andy Hale, who has said the videos will vindicate his clients, and show they had reason to believe Chatman was armed as he was running from the officers, who had recognized him as a suspect in a carjacking.
"As he was fleeing, the suspect turned toward the officers, with the dark object in his right hand, causing one officer to open fire," he said.
The attorney for the two officers has said a nationally-recognized expert in police use of force has reviewed the case, and found the shooting to be justified.
However, Chatman family attorney Brian Coffman said, after Chatman was shot, one of the officers stood over him, as if the teen were some sort of trophy kill.
"You'll see in the video afterwards, when as soon as Officer Toth encounters Mr. Chatman as he's laying on the ground, he flips him over and handcuffs him. He takes his boot, and he steps on top of him," Coffman said. "You'll see it in the video. It actually zooms towards him, and it's very clear. Our point of view of that is you have a 17-year-old kid that's shot and killed, bleeding in the street in the city of Chicago, and handcuffed face-down on the ground. For him to essentially step on him on top of it, it's just totally unreasonable."
Coffman said Chatman never turned toward the officers, and was not armed. The object in his hand was an iPhone box.
Former IPRA supervising investigator Lorenzo Davis found the Chatman shooting to be unjustified, and his attorney has said he was fired for refusing to change his report.
