by Bob Walsh
Jason Van Dyke was a white cop in Chicago in 2014. He shot a black teenager who was in possession of a knife. The kid was walking away. There were no civilians around if I recall correctly, just a LOT of cops. He got the kid 16 times in the back, some of the shots fired when the kid was down. Hard to justify. He was convicted of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.
Three other cops were found not guilty of trying to cover up the details of the shooting.
As usual nobody is happy, which means the outcome from a legal standpoint was probably reasonable.
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Chicago Ex-Cop Jason Van Dyke Sentenced In Laquan McDonald Murder
By Sanjana Karanth
Huffington Post
January 19, 2019
Former Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke was sentenced Friday to nearly seven years for the 2014 murder of teenager Laquan McDonald.
Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan said in his ruling that he will sentence Van Dyke to 81 months, which means the former officer could be out in about four years with good behavior.
The ruling came after jurors in October convicted Van Dyke of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery ― one for each bullet fired at McDonald when the white officer shot the black 17-year-old on a Chicago street four years ago. The shooting was captured on dashcam video, which sparked nationwide calls for justice after its release in 2015.
Lawyers at Friday’s hearing argued over a key issue that decided Van Dyke’s fate: whether aggravated battery is a more serious conviction than second-degree murder. Van Dyke, 40, faced anywhere from probation to more than 96 years in prison. His attorneys argued the officer should be sentenced only on the second-degree murder conviction and deserves probation because he has no criminal history. They also filed about 200 letters of support from Van Dyke’s family and friends.
But prosecutors on Monday filed a document making the case for the aggravated battery conviction, which carries a minimum sentence of six to 30 years in prison for each count.
In the end, Gaughan decided to only sentence Van Dyke on the second-degree murder charge.
The sentencing comes less than a day after three of Van Dyke’s fellow officers were acquitted on charges they covered up the killing and obscured the investigation. Thomas Gaffney, David March and Joseph Walsh were found not guilty on Thursday of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct. In that case, Judge Domenica Stephenson said that the three officers saw the shooting from a different perspective at the scene than what a disturbing video of the incident shows.
Dashcam video from that night recorded Van Dyke shooting at McDonald, who was wielding a 3-inch knife while walking away from the officer. A judge forced the city to publicly release the video more than a year after the shooting, turning attention toward Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who waited until after his re-election to release the footage. Emanuel, who was President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, announced last year that he won’t be running for mayor again. Chicagoans consider the McDonald shooting one the biggest stains on Emanuel’s mayoral legacy.
The video became a key piece of evidence in Van Dyke’s trial, angering Chicagoans and sparking nationwide calls for justice.
Van Dyke is the first Chicago officer in 50 years to be convicted of murder for an on-duty shooting. His attorneys have maintained the officer was wrongly charged and that he was acting legally when he killed McDonald because he feared for his life.
EDITOR'S NOTE: Feared for his life my ass. I've seen the video several times and this shooting was clearly unjustified. Seven years? I think he got off pretty easy. I can't help but think that Van Dyke was high on some kind of drug when he shot the retreating kid.
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