Jury Rules In Favor Of Chicago Police - Rejects Marvin Wiley's Story
On February 22, 2007, Chicago police officers Damen Balesteri, Dennis Oboikovitz, Sharmaun Freeman and Shaun McGovern arrested Melvin Wiley after he was observed selling drugs on the 6200 block of South Laflin on the south side of Chicago. Officer Balesteri observed Wiley conduct two hand-to-hand transactions while conducting a drug surveillance from an abandoned building across the street. Wiley told a very different story, claiming that he had two of his friends, Darnell Russell and Sydney Hunter, came to the 6200 block of S. Laflin because Wiley was going to take his young daughter out to celebrate her birthday. Wiley and Russell claimed that the officers pulled them out of Russell's car at gun point and placed them in handcuffs. Wiley, Russell and other witnesses claimed that while in police custody on Laflin, one of the officers put his finger in Russell's rectum, causing Russell to have a seizure. Wiley and Russell claimed that the police officers just left Russell on the street to die after allegedly having this seizure. Russell and Wiley marched their family members into court to testify on their behalf but they could not keep their stories straight. Russell's mom had claimed she witnessed her son on Laflin after having a seizure but it was shown that she was actually at work at the time of the incident. Russell's step-father testified but in his testimony he admitted he never even saw Wiley at the scene of the incident. On the last day of trial, plaintiff's counsel was allowed to call a rebuttal witness to testify there was no abandoned building on the 6200 block of S. Laflin, but on cross-examination it was shown, via Google Maps, that there clearly was an abandoned building on the 6200 block of S. Laflin, consistent with Officer Balesteri's testimony. Russell claimed he went to the hospital relating to this incident but he offered no medical testimony to support his allegations. After deliberating for less than an hour, the jury returned a verdict for the defendant police officers on all counts. The Chicago police officers were represented by attorneys Avi Kamionski, James McGovern and Cherie Getchell from the law firm of Andrew M. Hale & Associates. The plaintiffs were represented by attorneys Sam Adam, Jr. and Jeffrey Neslund.
