Chicago officers found not guilty of attempted cover-up in Laquan McDonald killing – NBC News

Three Chicago police officers were found not guilty on all charges that they conspired to protect their colleague who shot and killed teenager Laquan McDonald in 2014.

Officer Thomas Gaffney, ex-Officer Joseph Walsh and former Detective David March were acquitted on charges of conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct by Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson.

“This court finds that the state has failed to meet its burden on all charges,” Stephenson ruled. “Defendants are discharged.”

The defendants, who each faced up to five years behind bars, were all involved in the probe following officer Jason Van Dyke’s killing of McDonald.

The three officers opted against having a jury hear their case, and instead asked for a bench trial, leaving their fate in the hands of Judge Stephenson.

Jurors in Van Dyke’s trial convicted him on Oct. 5, 2018, of second-degree murder for firing 16 times at the McDonald on Oct. 20, 2014.

Officers on the scene found McDonald, 17, armed with a knife and called for an officer with a Taser to respond.

But before that officer could arrive, Van Dyke, who is white, opened fire and shot McDonald as the black teen was walking away from them, dashcam footage of the shooting showed a year later.

When the explosive footage was released, it sparked a series of mass protests around the city.

Even though the charged officers wrote reports that seemed to differ with the video — and differ in a strikingly similar manner — Stephenson said that’s not evidence of a criminal cover-up.

“Two people, with two different vantage points, can witness the same event, but describe it differently,” the judge said. “This does not necessarily mean that one of them is lying — rather it could be an indication that they are describing what they saw from their vantage point, with their own perceptions.”