‘They took the whole thing as a joke': Why Rekia Boyd’s killer went free

Rekia Boyd was shot in the head by an off-duty Chicago police officer. On the day of her funeral, her family was sent a box of her possessions: a yellow purse and a Ziploc bag full of bloody hair.

Three years later, on April 20 in a Chicago courtroom, Boyd’s older brother Martinez Sutton, 32, felt like the justice system was disrespecting his family again. German Shepherds prowled the halls. A dozen officers patrolled the room. Before reading his verdict, Judge Dennis Porter stared at Boyd’s family. “This is a court of law, not a court of emotion,” he said.

Officer Dante Servin, whose bullet hit 22-year-old Boyd in the back of the head on March 21, 2012, was found not guilty.

Servin was not acquitted because he didn’t pull the trigger—he did, five times, over his shoulder from inside his Mercedes. He wasn’t acquitted because he said this was an accident—he told investigators that, after telling the four people in the alley by his West Side home to be quiet at 1 a.m., he heard a bang and felt something on the back of his head, so he shot. He wasn’t acquitted because of a stirring defense—he actually didn’t have the chance to speak.

Judge Porter threw out the case in a direct verdict because the charges weren’t severe enough (this was a bench trial, meaning the judge plays the role of a jury). He said Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez should have charged Servin with first degree murder—and not involuntary manslaughter and reckless discharge of a firearm—because shooting a gun at someone on the street is “so dangerous it is beyond reckless.”

http://fusion.net/story/130482/they-took-the-whole-thing-as-a-joke-why-rekia-boyds-killer-went-free/