Judge Domenica Stephenson on Thursday acquitted three Chicago Police officers of all counts in an alleged conspiracy to cover up for fellow officer Jason Van Dyke in the probe that followed Van Dyke’s 2014 shooting of Laquan McDonald.
Prosecutors had contended they were making a simple “paper case,” and that statements characterizing the 17-year-old McDonald as moving aggressively at Van Dyke and his partner, when Van Dyke fired a fatal volley of 16 shots.
Stephenson, a former prosecutor, agreed with the defense argument that McDonald, whom officers had chased from a truck lot where the teen allegedly was burglarizing vehicles, posed a potential threat when Van Dyke shot him and that lead detective David March performed a thorough investigation before ruling the shooting was justified.
Read her full, 28-page order here:
