City ordered to pay $100,000 to lawyers of Bernard Kersh, man with schizophrenia body-slammed by Chicago cop

The city of Chicago was ordered Friday to pay $100,000 to cover fees for lawyers for a man with schizophrenia who was body-slammed by a police officer in 2019,.

That was after a judge found that the city failed to turn over records that then-police Supt. David Brown agreed the officer used “massively excessive force.”

The six-figure payment is to cover the cost of lawyers for Bernard Kersh to conduct a second round of depositions with witnesses after learning Brown and the city’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability found that Officer Jerald Williams’ use of force violated department standards.

The money, awarded as a sanction against the city by Cook County Judge Gerald Cleary, is less than the $122,000 Kersh’s lawyers sought.

The case is set to go to trial June 16. Kersh’s lawsuit says he suffered a brain injury and was blinded in one eye after his head struck a curb.

“We have yet another situation where Chicago taxpayers are paying for the city’s failure to follow standard discovery procedures,” Kersh’s attorney Andrew M. Stroth said. “We are preparing to go to trial ... and taxpayers will also be responsible for a verdict at trial.”

A spokeswoman for the city’s Law Department did not respond to a request for comment.

COPA found that Williams used “massively excessive force” and recommended a 45-day suspension.

Brown agreed with the finding but recommended a 135-day suspension, which was upheld by the Chicago Police Board.

Williams, who has been promoted to sergeant during the years since the incident, has challenged the suspension and has yet to serve a day of the punishment while a labor grievance is pending.

City Hall attorneys have contended, citing expert witnesses hired to analyze video of what happened, that Williams use of amixed martial arts-style body slam was justified because officials say Kersh spit on police officers who had approached him for drinking a bottle of vodka at a bus stop in East Chatham.

The Police Board voted last month for a 90-day suspension for Officer Mark Johnson, who placed Kersh in the back of his police vehicle without waiting for paramedics to examine Kersh.

Kersh’s lawyers said they learned of the disciplinary action and final reports about the incident, as well as a letter in which Brown agreed with the findings, only when they saw a news report that Williams and another officer involved in the incident had been disciplined.

A study last year by the Better Government Association found that, over the past decade, the city of Chicago has paid an average of $93 million in settlements and judgments in police misconduct cases.