A judge found three Chicago police officers not guilty on charges that they covered up for officer Jason Van Dyke after he shot and killed a 17-year-old.
Jan. 17 (UPI) — A judge found three Chicago police officers not guilty Thursday on charges that they covered up for officer Jason Van Dyke after he shot and killed 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014.
Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson ruled that Detective David March, and officers Joseph Walsh and Thomas Gaffney were not guilty of official misconduct, obstruction of justice and conspiracy to obstruct justice in their probe into Van Dyke’s killing of McDonald.
“This court finds that the state has failed to meet its burden on all charges,” Stephenson said after about an hour dissecting the case. “Defendants are discharged.”
The three officers opted to have Stephenson determine the verdict rather than having a jury hear their case. They faced up to five years in prison if convicted.
“To say these men are not guilty is to say Jason Van Dyke is not guilty,” the Rev. Marvin Hunter, McDonald’s great-uncle, told the Chicago Sun-Times.
