CHICAGO (AP) — An attorney for a white Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting death of a black teenager said he is considering asking for a change of venue because of comments Mayor Rahm Emanuel has made about his client.
A court hearing was scheduled for Friday to formally read out the indictment against Jason Van Dyke. He faces six counts of first-degree murder and one of official misconduct in 17-year-old Laquan McDonald‘s death. Van Dyke shot the teen 16 times in a 2014 shooting captured on a squad car video. The release of those images triggered protests, forced the resignation of the city’s police chief and put the entire Police Department under a wide-ranging civil rights investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice.
Defense attorney Dan Herbert told The Associated Press he may ask for a change of venue because of remarks Emanuel has made in several public appearances.
“The mayor has continued to indict my client in the press and before the City Council for the last couple of weeks,” Herbert said. “So I imagine when I bring motion for change of venue, Exhibit A will be all the mayor’s comments.”
The mayor has faced calls to resign from protesters who accuse City Hall, the police and the state’s attorney of a cover-up because the city fought for months to keep the video from being released under the argument that doing so would hinder the investigation into the shooting. At the end of November, a judge ordered the city to make the images public.
During a Nov. 24 news conference to release the video, Emanuel mentioned the officer by name and said it was clear his actions were wrong.
“We hold our police officers to a high standard and obviously in this case, Jason Van Dyke violated both the standards of professionalism that come with being a police officer but also basic moral standards that bind our community together,” Emanuel said.
Van Dyke was to appear at Friday’s hearing, Herbert said. It will be his first appearance since a grand jury indicted him on Wednesday.
Community activists have called for the appointment of a special prosecutor, arguing that the 13 months it took Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez to announce charges has led to a lack of confidence in her handling of the case. Alvarez has responded that any investigation into a police shooting is “highly complex” and presents unique legal issues.
Van Dyke’s attorney said he didn’t think a special prosecutor was necessary but that if the venue is moved there might be a different prosecutor.
He didn’t say where or how far from Chicago he would like to see the trial moved.
Change-of-venue motions are unusual and rarely granted. It has happened in some high-profile trials of police officers.
Perhaps the most well-known case, from the early 1990s, involved the four white officers charged with beating, kicking and stomping black motorist Rodney King. The trial was moved out of Los Angeles to Simi Valley, a predominantly white city in a neighboring county, where the four officers were acquitted of most of the charges, setting off rioting that left 54 people dead.
Van Dyke’s attorney would have to convince a judge the officer could not be granted a fair trial in Chicago. But that might be tough in this instance, said Ronald Allen, a professor at Northwestern University’s law school.
“In a big city like Chicago, where you have a large jury pool, the probability is pretty good that you can seat an unbiased jury,” Allen said.
He also doubted that statements from Emanuel could prompt a change of venue.
“What is said has to be something that stirs passions,” said Allen, adding that many people may not even have heard what the mayor said.
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(Photo Source: AP)
