Evidentiary hearings begin in Police Board case against CPD Officer Robert Rialmo

Even though he wasn’t carrying a baton, stun gun or pepper spray, attorneys for Chicago Police Officer Robert Rialmo said Monday that he had no choice but to open fire on Quintonio LeGrier — killing the 19-year-old and his downstairs neighbor, Bettie Jones, in December 2015.

“The use of deadly force was justified and reasonable,” attorney Tim Grace said in his opening statements on the first day of evidentiary hearings that will be used to decide Rialmo’s future with the CPD. “The tragic death of Bettie Jones was also, unfortunately, reasonable.”

“Officer Rialmo is here because he did his job,” he added.

Despite originally saying he believed the shooting to be justified, CPD Supt. Eddie Johnson filed several charges against Rialmo with the Chicago Police Board last November, recommending he be fired.

A Police Board officer is presiding over several days of evidentiary hearings this week, and the board will render a decision as to Rialmo’s future with the CPD likely within a few months.

The charges against Rialmo allege action or conduct impeding department efforts to achieve its policy and goals or bringing discredit upon the department; disobeying an order or directive; inattention to duty; incompetency or inefficiency in the performance of duty; and unlawful or unnecessary use or display of a weapon.

“We’re not here to find if he’s civilly or criminally liable,” Sarah Lash, an attorney representing Johnson, said during her opening statements. “We are here to determine if, when Officer Rialmo used deadly force, if he used it recklessly.”

More than 3 ½ years have passed since Rialmo and his partner, Anthony LaPalermo, responded to a call of a domestic disturbance at a two-flat at 4710 W. Erie St.

Jones, the LeGriers’ downstairs neighbor, opened the door for the officers and told them the commotion was coming from the unit above hers. LeGrier’s father had barricaded himself in his bedroom while his son was trying to get in with an aluminum baseball bat.

Within moments of the officers’ arrival, LeGrier came barreling down the stairs and swung the bat at Rialmo as the officer stood on the front porch. Rialmo backpedaled and fired seven or eight shots, killing both LeGrier and Jones, 55.

It was the first fatal shooting by a CPD officer after the release of the Laquan McDonald shooting video.

Before opening statements, Rialmo’s attorneys conceded that he had allowed his stun gun certification to lapse and pleaded guilty to violating one of the CPD’s general orders.

Rialmo, wearing a black tie and a white shirt with tattoos peeking out of his right sleeve, testified for about two hours Monday. Janet Cooksey, LeGrier’s mother, watched and listened from the gallery of the courtroom in the basement of the Daley Center but walked out of the room as Rialmo recounted the shooting of her son.

Monday’s hearing was cut short because neither LaPalermo nor one of Jones’ daughters were present to testify.

Legal exhibit

The charges brought against Rialmo do not mention LeGrier and focus largely on Jones’ death — a stark difference from the civil case brought by the LeGrier estate that went to trial last summer.

The jury there awarded the LeGrier estate just over $1 million in damages after an eight-day trial, but that money was immediately nullified when jurors said, effectively, that Rialmo was justified when he opened fire. The LeGrier estate appealed but was denied a new trial last October.

Grace stressed the jury’s findings in his opening statement.

“Deadly force was the only option he could’ve used at this time,” he said. “If it’s justified against LeGrier, it’s justified against Bettie Jones.”

After realizing he shot Jones, Rialmo walked across the street, where he told another officer on the scene that he “f----- up.”

Jim Fieweger, another attorney representing Johnson, asked Rialmo: “By killing an innocent bystander, you felt as though you ‘f----- up?”

“Correct,” Rialmo responded.

The Jones estate also sued Rialmo and the city but reached a $16 million settlement shortly before going to trial last year.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office opted to not bring criminal charges against Rialmo for the shooting, though he was charged with misdemeanor battery after he punched out two men at a Northwest Side bar in 2017. He was found not guilty, though he was involved in another bar scuffle just a few days later.