CHICAGO _ A long-sealed motion by indicted Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke seeks to move his trial for the fatal shooting of Laquan McDonald outside Cook County, alleging that "extensive, inflammatory and sensational media coverage" has made a fair jury trial here impossible.
The motion, finally made public three months to the day after it was filed, also contended that public comments by Mayor Rahm Emanuel, then-State's Attorney Anita Alvarez and other elected officials amounted to "the public execution of Jason Van Dyke."
"It can be argued that there is no case in history that presents a more compelling example of the necessity for a change of place of trial," the 31-page filing concluded.
The motion was filed March 28 by Daniel Herbert, Van Dyke's lead lawyer, only to be quietly unsealed this week by Judge Vincent Gaughan, who has put extraordinary restrictions on the release of evidence and testimony in the high-profile case. It was made public Thursday.
The judge has been pushing for a summer trial, but a hearing on the motion to move the trial to another county in Illinois probably won't take place until August, it was revealed Thursday. A comprehensive report by a California consultant hired by the defense to buttress its motion has taken months to complete and now should be ready by July 10, lawyers said.
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