A federal judge Thursday turned down the request by Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration to erase a jury’s finding that the Chicago Police Department has a “code of silence” to protect rogue officers.
The ruling came in the case of the notorious videotaped barroom beating of a female bartender by an off-duty police officer. The ruling means the bartender will still get an $850,000 jury award from the November verdict in her lawsuit against the police department.
U.S District Judge Amy St. Eve said the city turned down reasonable settlement offers from plaintiff Karolina Obrycka for six years and decided to take the case to trial “knowing that an adverse judgment was a risk.”
Under these circumstances, to let the city set aside the outcome after the jury has spoken could set a bad precedent that would deter parties from settling cases before the public expense of a trial in the future, she wrote.
Read more here: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-judge-refuses-to-erase-code-of-silence-verdict-20121220,0,3733688.story
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