U.S. jury acquits Chicago cop of brutality against Latino Teenager - Beaten & Handcuffed to a Wall for 4 Days
/A federal jury cleared a Chicago police
officer of using excessive force after a judge earlier Wednesday threw
out the heart of a civil lawsuit alleging that a teenager had been
chained to a wall during four days of questioning. In July 2000 18-year-old Joseph
Lopez was beat up by an arresting officer and then held incommunicado
for approximately five days. During virtually this entire period, he
was restrained in a police interrogation room with his wrist handcuffed
to a ring on the wall. His only human contact was with police officers
who coerced the teenager into confessing to a murder he did not commit.
He was fed only three times during his detention. With no bedding,
constantly interrogated, and shackled to the wall on a 10” x 48” metal
bench, Lopez was subjected to sleep deprivation, which is widely
recognized by international treaties and human rights authorities as a
prohibited torture technique. After the close of evidence, U.S.
District Judge Samuel Der-Yeghiayan threw out claims that Lopez had
been detained unlawfully, that the conditions of his confinement were
unlawful and that detectives had intentionally inflicted emotional
distress. In his decision, Der-Yeghiayan held
that extraordinary circumstances existed for the extended detention of
Lopez, who was arrested in 2000 in connection with the murder of a
12-year-old boy. The charges against Lopez in the case were soon
dropped, and another man was arrested. Ordinarily, suspects can't be
questioned for more than 48 hours without going before a judge. "The
evidence clearly shows that it was Lopez himself who created the delays
he now accuses the [police] for," the judge ruled. According to the
judge, the Chicago teen lied about his identity, gave false alibis and
admitted being the shooter before recanting. [more]
- Lopez Complaint [PDF] Via ChicagoIMC
