Community | March 04, 2011 | 31 comments

Family of unarmed man fatally shot in face by cop gets $3 million

source: http://www.suntimes.com/news/4117146-418/family-of-unarmed-man-fatally-shot-in-face-by-cop-g...

bundlebear
The Daley administration has agreed to pay $3 million to the family of a 23-year-old unarmed man gunned down by Chicago Police in a 2003 shooting captured by a CTA surveillance camera.

If not for the video, widely viewed on YouTube, City Hall and police officer Alvin Weems might never have admitted that the shooting of Michael Pleasance at the CTA Red Line’s 95th Street station was not justified.

At the time, Weems was trying to break up a fight in which Pleasance was a mere bystander.

The Police Department initially maintained that the victim struggled with Weems for the officer’s gun. Only after the victim’s family sued and a judge ordered the CTA video released did the city and the officer change their stories.

The video shows Weems, dressed in plainclothes, arriving at the L platform with his gun drawn. The officer pulls a young man out of the fight as Pleasance stands off to the side pointing and apparently trying to talk to the officer. The video then shows Weems raising his gun and shooting Pleasance in the face.

The settlement, expected to be approved today by the City Council’s Finance Committee, pales by comparison to the $12.5 million that a jury awarded to the victim’s mother Pamela Pleasance in December 2007.

But that award, one of the largest in Chicago history to stem from a police shooting, was subsequently overturned by the Illinois Appellate Court. The appeals court ruled that the trial jury had been prejudiced by repeated use of the term “willful and wanton” to describe the officer’s conduct.

Allen Schwartz, an attorney representing Pamela Pleasance, noted that the $3 million settlement mirrors the amount recommended by the trial judge. If the city had offered that amount, the mother’s legal ordeal would have been averted, he said.

“At the time this happened, she was a nursing home administrator in Hickory Hills. After it happened, she couldn’t go back to work. She couldn’t function. She’s had some health issues. She wants it over,” Schwartz said.

“His mother said from the beginning there was no way her son would ever try to grab a gun from a police officer — and he didn’t. But the only reason they admitted responsibility was the whole thing was captured on videotape. It was an unprovoked shooting. Michael was standing there holding his friend’s jacket and got shot in the face.”

Law Department spokesperson Jennifer Hoyle refused comment on the settlement.

The Office of Professional Standards — now called the Independent Police Review Authority — initially recommended that Weems be fired. Then-Police Supt. Phil Cline reduced the penalty to a 30-day suspension, then promoted Weems to the rank of detective.

http://www.suntimes.com/news/4117146-418/family-of-unarmed-man-fatally-shot-in-f...
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31 comments // Family of unarmed man fatally shot in face by cop gets $3 million // Video

  • dinm76
  • bundlebear
  • extracrazykiwi2008
  • treewolf39
    • 0
      treewolf39  
    • dinm76:

      I am not sure of your browser, but I use Chrome by Google and a neat little add on called "AdSweep". Mozilla Firefox browser has a similar one called "AdBlock". They almost completely eliminate the painfully annoying Ads. Cheers.

    • 1 year ago
  • Incredulous
    • +3
      Incredulous  

    • "Police Supt. Phil Cline reduced the penalty to a 30-day suspension, then promoted Weems to the rank of detective."

      that smell coming from Chicago is corruption.

    • 1 year ago
  • gepma44
    • +3
      gepma44  

    • Why is this not getting the coverage that the dogs mike Vick killed got?.......The simple truth is MOST people care more for a DOG than a human life.... If that cop was on film shooting lassie you wouldnt be able to log on to this site...God dont like ugly...Thanks for listening...signed A Black Man In America...

    • 1 year ago
  • Varex_Sythe
    • +5
      Varex_Sythe  

    • Am I misunderstanding the article, or did the police officer get a 30 day suspension then get promoted to Detective?

      What the fuck? How can something like this not get federal attention?

      I wouldn't give a flying copulating pig if the guy is an officer and blue is the color that sticks together. If someone commits a cold blooded murder like that then they either need to be placed in prison for a very VERY long time, or a goddamn mental institution.

    • 1 year ago
  • KSirys
    • +3
      KSirys  

    • 8 years after the fact?? it took that long to figure out that the cop was lying and the bullshit story they always give was a lie?

      AND on top of things, the coward who shot this kid is not arrested or doing life in prison? This country sounds more and more like a third world country!

    • 1 year ago
  • treewolf39
  • ozoneocean
  • shippit5
  • KSirys
  • shippit5
    • +3
      shippit5  
    • KSirys:

      how can you expect a president to condemn an innocent murder in chicago when he supports unsubstantiated wars overseas, where innocent civilians die every day?

    • 1 year ago
  • gepma44
  • KSirys
    • 0
      KSirys  
    • gepma44:

      How about you stop sucking the presidents asshole and smell the real world? This is affecting people on a daily basis, he should find a way to stop this and make cops more accountable.

    • 1 year ago
  • Warren_Merrill
  • Warren_Merrill
  • gepma44
    • 0
      gepma44  
    • KSirys:

      There will come a time when one of your ARCHIE BUNKER like rants will make sense. I AWAIT THAT MOMENT WITH GREAT ANTICIPATION!!! FREE YOUR MIND YOURE AN ASS IF YOU DONT FOLLOW thank for your time.........

    • 1 year ago
  • KSirys
    • -1
      KSirys  
    • gepma44:

      You don't have to wait, here's one... go the fuck away, since you're one of the sheep that's still sucking ass and because of you, our progress will take time.

    • 1 year ago
  • gepma44
    • 0
      gepma44  
    • KSirys:

      I will never go away I am the consience that you dont have. The intestional fortitude you lack and your time of day. Now continue your meaningless rants in which you use vulgarities and insults to make up for your lack of credible information and insight. Thank god for people like you. I wake up everyday invogorated to the challenge. Now sit down take a deep breath and tell me again how elvis is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

    • 1 year ago
  • gepma44
  • KSirys
    • -1
      KSirys  
    • gepma44:

      hahahahaha... this is where you and I differ sunshine... I don't really care how intellectual and smart you are or believe you are, because at the end of the day while you're still indulging in the aroma of merde (look it up) I know what reality is.

      Next time you want credible information and insight, ask a question. Don't make a statement thinking you are the source of facts around here.

    • 1 year ago
  • gepma44
  • KSirys
    • 0
      KSirys  
    • gepma44:

      racial slur? are you that stupid you couldn't look up merde? it means shit you prick.. it has nothing to do against blacks or a race, intellectual.

      Like I've said before, you might think you're an intellectual... lol.. sorry, i had to stop for a second there and laugh... but using google is not hard... let me teach you...

      1. go to www.google.com
      2. type, with two hands, if you can, merde
      3. look at the first thing that comes up... merde - French for "shit"...

      Now that i have thought you a new word, please go away, you're not fun at all...

    • 1 year ago
  • gepma44
  • mapczar
  • ejasun
  • gepma44
  • trut
    • +9
      trut  

    • Promoted, that's the pubishment the cop received for murdering an innocent man. As always the cops made up a bullshit story to try and cover their tracks. I don't believe any cops stories anymore, constant coverups and lies.

    • 1 year ago
  • belfastbikerman
    • +5
      belfastbikerman  
    • trut:

      This.

      Cops ask us to trust them, help them, and I do.

      But is it too much to expect that they're held to the same standard which we all are?

      I mean, this cop lied to save his ass. After executing some really poor judgement at the time. He should have lost his job, but instead, was promoted. I trust now that ALL the cops who perjured themselves are no longer, cops, or is that too much to ask!?!?!?

    • 1 year ago
  • BenjaminDover
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