“Law professors file motion against erasing ‘code of silence’ verdict” @ Chicago Tribune

Posted on December 6, 2012

David Heinzmann — December 6, 2012: “Two law professors who focus on police accountability have filed a motion opposing Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s move to erase a federal jury’s recent finding that a “code of silence” exists in the Chicago Police Department.

The professors from the University of Chicago and Northwestern University law schools filed the motion late Tuesday seeking to intervene in the case involving the infamous videotaped beating of a female bartender by an off-duty officer. They want to submit written arguments “addressing the public’s interest in ensuring that the city not be permitted to ‘buy its way out of this judgment.’”

Lawyers for Emanuel’s administration filed a joint motion with former bartender Karolina Obrycka on Monday, asking U.S. District Court Judge Amy St. Eve to set aside the jury’s Nov. 13 verdict in favor of Obrycka. She Öwould be paid the $850,000 award she won in the trial without fear of losing an appeal, and the city has said removing the judgment that a code of silence exists would help them defend against other police misconduct lawsuits……………………………..”

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