CHICAGO _ A Cook County jury has found that a Chicago police officer unjustifiably shot and killed a bat-wielding 19-year-old, awarding the teen's family $1.05 million in damages.
Jurors at the Daley Center courthouse deliberated for 3 { hours before returning the verdict in favor of Quintonio LeGrier's parents, who sued the city and Officer Robert Rialmo.
The verdict on Wednesday evening capped an eight-day trial that marked the culmination of 2 { years of legal wrangling over one of the most divisive shootings in the recent history of a police department still undergoing reforms aimed at preventing controversial uses of force.
Ultimately, the jury sided with the LeGrier family's lawyers, who argued that the officer stood far enough away from the teen that he was not in imminent danger when he fired.
The lawyers also emphasized that most of the five bullets that hit LeGrier entered from behind, countering the claim that he was rushing the officers when he was shot.
The shooting on the West Side also killed 55-year-old Bettie Jones, an innocent bystander, but the city avoided a trial with her family by recently reaching a proposed settlement of $16 million.
In an unusual twist, Rialmo had also sued LeGrier's estate, blaming him for the shooting. Jurors found in Rialmo's favor but awarded the officer nothing.
LeGrier's shooting unfolded as Rialmo and his partner responded about 4:30 a.m. Dec. 26, 2015, to a domestic disturbance at an apartment in the 4700 block of West Erie Street where the teen was staying with his father. LeGrier apparently was plagued by mental health problems and had encounters with police while attending Northern Illinois University, records show.
The shooting has been politically explosive since it transpired just a month after Mayor Rahm Emanuel was forced by a judge to release video of an officer shooting black teen Laquan McDonald 16 times. The video's release led to a political firestorm that illuminated long-standing problems in a police department with a record of abuse and misconduct.
During closing arguments earlier Wednesday, attorney Basileios Foutris, who represents the LeGrier family, emphasized the portions of the trial that suggested Rialmo _ who has given varying statements about the shooting _ stood 10 feet or more from the teen when he fired.
The lawyer argued that the officer's statements placing him a few feet from LeGrier were concocted to justify a bad shooting.
Like a mantra, Foutris repeated, "Distance matters."
"Quintonio was not a threat to him, period," Foutris said.
Foutris asked jurors to award the LeGrier family as much as about $25 million.
Defending the city, private attorney Brian Gainer, contended that mere seconds passed as the officers _ responding to calls of a domestic disturbance _ reached the building's front entry and LeGrier bounded down the stairs and rushed at Rialmo and his partner with the bat in his hand. LeGrier presented an immediate lethal threat, Gainer said, whether he was 5 feet or more than 20 feet from Rialmo when he fired.
"It happened like this," said Gainer, snapping his fingers. "There is no 'pause' button."
Gainer argued that the discrepancies within the officers' accounts of the shooting actually show their credibility. If the officers conspired to cook up a story, Gainer said, "This is, without a doubt, the worst conspiracy in the history of conspiracies."
Rialmo made the unconventional move of hiring his own attorney, Joel Brodsky, to represent him alongside the lawyers for the city. Brodsky asked jurors to consider whether they expect cops to run into danger or away from it. He also contended that LeGrier "wanted to be killed by police."
The trial over the LeGrier family's lawsuit has turned largely on two key topics: whether the teen swung the bat at Rialmo as the officer testified and the distance that separated the two when Rialmo fired. Attorneys have also repeatedly returned to the fact that most of the bullets came from behind.
Experts hired by the city and the LeGrier family have voiced conflicting views.
A forensics expert called by the LeGrier family testified that the teen stood at least 10 feet from Rialmo at the time of the shooting. A pathologist hired by the LeGrier family said the teen's wounds and other evidence contradicted Rialmo's account of the teen raising the bat before he was shot.
The city's lawyers, however, called a pathologist who said it was possible that LeGrier had the bat raised when he was shot.
Rialmo himself demonstrated for jurors how he said LeGrier swung the bat downward at him. The officer said the teen came within 2 to 3 feet of him.
The city also called a use-of-force expert who testified that Rialmo was justified in firing _ even if LeGrier did not swing the bat _ because the teen presented an immediate threat.
That clash of expert opinions mirrors the rift between police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and the city's officer disciplinary agency, the Civilian Office of Police Accountability. COPA ruled the shooting unjustified and recommended the officer be fired, while Johnson disagreed and ruled that the shooting was warranted.
The Chicago Police Board has yet to decide whether Rialmo should be fired.
Rialmo, who is on paid desk duty, also remains under investigation for a December 2017 bar fight in which he punched two men in the face in an altercation caught on security video. Brodsky has said Rialmo was defending himself.
Complicating the trial, Brodsky made the unorthodox move of suing the LeGrier estate, alleging the teen was to blame for the shooting and seeking damages. The jury found in Rialmo's favor but awarded no damages.
Only a small portion of the trial focused on Brodsky's lawsuit. In closing arguments, Foutris called the suit "callous" and pointed out for jurors that Rialmo was not in court. Rialmo did not attend most of the trial, while Brodsky was in court intermittently.
"Apparently, (Rialmo) has got better things to do," Foutris said.
Brodsky argued that the shooting was "traumatic" and "life-changing" for Rialmo.
"(LeGrier) caused Officer Rialmo to have to take his life, and, unfortunately, tragically, the life of Bettie Jones," Brodsky said.
"It was Quintonio's fault."
