A jury awarded Annie Johnson $8.5 million for the wrongful
death of her son, Aaron Harrison, who was shot and killed by a Chicago police
officer in 2007/
Police said Harrison was shot after raising a gun at an
officer during the chase in the 1300 block of South Mozart Street. But five
eyewitnesses testified that Harrison wasn't carrying a gun and didn't point one
at an officer, and that they saw no gun near his body immediately after the
shooting, said the family's attorney, James Montgomery, at a news conference
Friday in his office.
"Then after the handcuffing — magically the gun
appears," Montgomery said of the 9 mm weapon police said they recovered.
"Evidence pointed to a planted weapon on the ground."
The wrongful death lawsuit took six years to play out in
Cook County Circuit Court. Jurors, who were encouraged by the family's
attorneys to re-enact the shooting, took less than three hours to reach a
verdict, Montgomery said. An earlier trial in May ended with a mistrial after
that jury deadlocked.
The city already has spent more than $54 million this year —
twice what was budgeted — to settle police misconduct lawsuits.
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