Illinois Supreme Court Denies Bid To Resentence Van Dyke
CHICAGO (CBS) -- A request to reconsider a nearly seven-year prison sentence being served by former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was denied Tuesday by the Illinois Supreme Court.
Attorney General Kwame Raoul and prosecutor Joseph McMahon filed a Supreme Court petition in February asking for a new sentencing hearing for Van Dyke, who was found guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery with a firearm in connection with the shooting of Laquan McDonald.
Judge Vincent Gaughan sentenced Van Dyke on only the second-degree murder charge and not the aggravated battery charges, which would have carried a larger sentence.
The Supreme Court petition sought a resentencing hearing that could have resulted in a tougher prison sentence.
Van Dyke was beaten in a low-security federal prison in February, according to his wife and attorneys. He was recently relocated to a medium-security prison in New York state.
"We recognize and respect the Supreme Court's authority," Raoul stated.
Attorney Dan Herbert said he was happy but not surprised.
"Thankfully they looked at this and they did it in a way we think was appropriate," Herbert said.
Van Dyke could be released from prison as early as three years from now.
Both candidates for mayor criticized the Supreme Court's decision.
Lori Lightfoot called it a "sad reminder to create a system free of institutional racism."
Toni Preckwinkle compared Van Dyke's sentence to that of the man convicted of murdering teenager Hadiya Pendleton.
"There's a lot of difference between 81 months and 84 years," she said.
