CHICAGO, Ill., August 12 � Following a four day trial in federal court, a jury at 7 pm last night found the Chicago Police Department and Officer Richard Defelice guilty of police brutality in the 1999 beating of 32-year-old Rockford resident Jeremy Kunz. Mr. Kunz was represented by the civil rights law firm of Loevy & Loevy.

Jurors awarded Mr. Kunz a total of $275,000, of which $25,000 was for compensatory damages and $250,000 for punitive damages.

"The jury was outraged by the lies told by the police," said Kunz�s attorney, Jon Loevy. �The police denied everything. Six police eyewitnesses claimed to have been not watching when the beating occurred. The lead police interrogator claimed to never have met Mr. Kunz, and yet he was listed on the Department�s own police report as the arresting officer, and Mr. Kunz picked him out in a line-up. Chicago officers tried to use the �code of silence� to deny justice, and it�s to the credit of this jury that the police didn�t get away with it.�

On March 22, 1999 police began following Mr. Kunz, who was driving a stolen Chevy Blazer. Because he was carrying illegal drugs, Kunz did not pull over and eventually got out of the car and ran from the police, who chased him into a parking lot where they caught him. After placing Kunz under arrest, police handcuffed him with his face down on the ground, and proceeded to beat him, kicking him in the head and face, and breaking a rib.

Police then dragged Kunz out of the parking lot, took him to a police interrogation room at the 23rd District police station at Addison and Halsted Streets, and beat a confession out of him. He was punched a number of times in the face until he confessed to knowing that the Blazer was stolen.

When police took Kunz to court two days later, the judge was "very disturbed" by the appearance of Kunz's face and ordered photographs taken. Those photographs (plus the booking photo) were the key physical evidence in the case. Despite his repeated requests, police denied Kunz medical care for 18 hours after their attack on him. He subsequently was hospitalized twice and treated for a broken rib.

Jeremy Kunz is currently 32 years old. He grew up in Rockford, is a former musician with an album on Island Records, a major label. He is now in school.

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