CHICAGO _ Cook County prosecutors have decided not to pursue criminal charges against Chicago police officers in the death last summer of a handcuffed man during an arrest that was caught on police dashboard camera video.
In making the announcement, State's Attorney Anita Alvarez said prosecutors would not be able "to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that the officers used excessive force" in arresting Heriberto Godinez.
Godinez, 24, died last July after officers responded to a call of a disturbance in the Brighton Park neighborhood and found him in a garage in the 3000 block of West Pershing Road, according to police. Officers thought Godinez might have been mentally ill and took him into custody after the owners of the property said they did not know him.
Video from the squad car at the scene showed an officer briefly placing his shoe on the neck of a handcuffed and prone Godinez as he and a second officer tried to restrain him. Godinez began sweating heavily and his breathing became labored. Officers called for help, but by the time paramedics arrived, Godinez was unresponsive, officials said at the time.
The Cook County medical examiner's office found that Godinez had died of cocaine and alcohol poisoning, with physical stress from his being restrained listed as "a significant contributing factor."
But independent medical examiners hired by Alvarez's office determined Godinez's primary cause of death was a cardiac dysrhythmia brought on by a combination of cocaine and alcohol. None of those pathologists found evidence of asphyxiation, blunt force trauma or broken bones, Alvarez said.
