A jury acquitted New York police officer Richard Kern of sodomizing a drug suspect with his baton. Two of Kern's colleagues were also acquitted of covering up the alleged anal assault. Kern was quoted as saying "I knew coming into this I was innocent. I was going to stand up for my rights and prove my innocence."
The plaintiff, Stephanie Orejel, alleged that on December 8, 2007, she was sexually assaulted by Chicago Police Officer Patrick Cain. Ms. Orejel alleged that on that date, she was coming out of her motel room at the Diplomat Motel, located at 5230 N. Lincoln Avenue, when she was stopped by Officer Cain in an unmarked police car. Ms. Orejel alleged that as she was walking to the store, Officer Cain called her over to his car, asked her for her purse and room key, and then used his office to intimidate her into going up to her motel room with him.
Once in the motel room, Ms. Orejel alleged that Officer Cain searched her room for drugs, searched her body for track marks, and then put two of her toes in his mouth. At that point, Ms. Orejel allegedly told Officer Cain that she wanted to leave, and the two of them then exited the motel room and went back down to the car. When they got to the car, Ms. Orejel retrieved her purse from Officer Cain’s partner, who had stayed in the car for the entire twenty-minute time period during which Ms. Orejel and Officer Cain were in the motel room. After retrieving her purse, Ms. Orejel continued on to the store and purchased some chips and donuts.
The jury deliberated for approximately one and one-half days and ultimately returned a verdict in favor of the defendants on all three counts - rejecting plaintiff's bizarre story.
Officer Cain was represented by Edith Holland and James Thompson of the Law Offices of Joseph Roddy. The City of Chicago was represented by Arlene Martin, Robin Shoffner, and Brandon Keel of the Corporation Counsel's Office. Plaintiff was represented by Blake Horwitz.
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More on the case from the Detroit Free Press.
Sgt. Michael Osman is quoted as follows:
"These false accusations are obviously sick and disgusting. The City of Detroit law department did a great job of presenting this case to the jury and bringing out these lies from drug traffickers and the jury came back with the proper verdict."
Congrats Sgt. Osman. . .
The Daily Herald is reporting this morning that Three McHenry County Officers have been vindicated by a jury of any misconduct in the Gary Gauger case. 
For a dozen years McHenry County Undersheriff Gene Lowery and two former colleagues have lived with allegations they framed an innocent man for the murder of his parents and helped send him to death row for a crime he did not commit. Those claims may have been silenced Thursday night when a jury cleared him and retired detectives Beverly Hendle and Christopher Pandre of malicious prosecution and conspiracy claims brought in a lawsuit by pardoned death row inmate Gary Gauger.
Jurors deliberated nearly five hours before returning the verdicts, which found that even though Gauger was innocent, the detectives had probable cause to arrest him for his parents' 1993 slayings.
Gauger was suing the detectives, and the McHenry County sheriff's department, for $20 million, alleging they falsely reported that he confessed to the murders - acts that ultimately landed him behind bars for 31/2 years, including nine months on death row, before he was exonerated.
On Thursday, it was the detectives claiming vindication.
"Nobody feels good when the criminal justice system fails," Lowery said after the verdict. "Though I feel we've been exonerated, I don't think there's anything to celebrate. "Maybe some of our honor is back," he said. "We were accused of wrongdoing, and we were just doing our jobs."
Gauger, an organic vegetable grower who lives near Richmond, declined to comment on the jury's decision, but his lawyers said they will appeal. "It's a very disappointing verdict," Gauger attorney Matthew Crowl said. "We felt that the evidence was strong, but we understand it's a high burden to meet in a malicious prosecution case." That burden required Gauger to show that not only did the detectives arrest the wrong man but that they did so with an "improper motive" other than bringing the proper person to justice. The jurors declined to comment on their decision as they left the McHenry County courthouse Thursday night. Gauger was living with his parents, Ruth and Morris Gauger, in April 1993 when they were found dead, their throats slashed, on the family farm off Route 173. During 18 hours of questioning, police said, Gauger confessed to the killings. He later was convicted of first-degree murder based largely on that confession and sentenced to death.
About three years later, however, a federal investigation linked two members of the Outlaws motorcycle gang to the murders. Gauger ultimately was released from prison and the charges against him were dismissed. In 2002, he received a full pardon. Gauger testified last week that contrary to the detectives' claims, he never admitted to the murders. Instead, he told jurors, he offered a hypothetical explanation of how he might have done it after detectives falsely told him they had evidence proving he was the killer and suggested he did it during a blackout. He said he repeatedly told investigators he had no memory of harming his parents.
The detectives denied those claims, testifying this week that Gauger never offered a hypothetical explanation and they never lied to him about evidence. During closing arguments, the detectives' attorney, James Sotos, told jurors that it was Gauger's own actions and statements that made him a suspect. "I don't think the police officers misdirected this investigation," he said. "Mr. Gauger misdirected this investigation. There is not a police officer in the world who would not have held an honest and strong suspicion."
More to follow.....
As recently reported, the district court granted summary judgment in favor of three retired Chicago police officers who were sued by plaintiff Jerry Miller in a civil rights lawsuit in the Northern District of Illinois. One of Miller's claims was that the police officers conducted an unduly suggestive lineup. The court rejected that argument, stating: "A lineup does not require five persons with identical measurements and countenances. United States v. Funches, 84 F.3d 249, 253 (7th Cir. 1996). It is undisputed that Miller and the other participants in the lineup were males, black, between 5'6" and 6', between 150 and 170 pounds, and between 23 and 31 years old. Miller was the same height as a filler, one inch taller than a filler, and four to five inches shorter than two fillers. He weighed the same as two fillers, was five pounds lighter than a filler, and was 20 pounds lighter than a filler. The parity level establishes the lineup was not unduly suggestive." (For more information on this case, see the prior blog post).
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