Last week, the Law Office of Edward Johnson’s Criminal Defense Blog wrote an article concerning the Chicago Police perjury issue. Because of the Chicago Tribune’s inquiry into this problem, the Chicago Police have begun an internal investigation of their officers Thus far, the investigation has found as many as six officers lying in their court testimonies. The Chicago Police are even prepared to take one of their officers off the streets for further investigation due to a judge’s belief that the officer had lied in a narcotics case.
The center of this investigation is a veteran officer, Jorge Martinez, whose testimony was questioned in a case earlier this year that involved $50,000 worth of cocaine. Jorge Martinez had testified in court that he and his partner had abandoned undercover drug surveillance to stop a minivan that had failed to signal for a right turn. The suspect’s lawyers argued that the testimony from Jorge Martinez did not ring true and the judge agreed. The judge, in this case, William Hooks, verbalized how this happens too often in the justice system and the charges were subsequently dropped.
The States Attorney’s office will be filing a disclosure notice towards Martinez and this could potentially affect other cases where he was a prosecution witness. The State Attorney’s office is currently reviewing these cases and trying to determine his involvement in them.
Although this is one potential victory towards justice, the court and the States Attorney’s office need to continually expose/punish law enforcement that lies on the stand. Another solution is requiring more police stations to have state of the art video equipment in their squad cars. This would enable evidence against a false testimony and serve as a warning to law enforcement about lying in court.
If your Fourth Amendment has been violated by law enforcement, call the Law Office of Edward Johnson today. We will fight for your rights. Call for a free consultation at 708-606-4386