Chicago Office of Police Accountability (COPA) Stonewalled Release of Report Until FOIA Suit by Watts’ Victims Report calls one cop’s conduct “blatant contempt for the principles of justice, his oath, and the rule of law.” CHICAGO, IL — A blistering report from the City of Chicago’s Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA) recommending the firing… Read More
COPA and CPD continue to hide details about its investigation in violation of the Freedom of Information Act CHICAGO – The City’s long-running Sgt. Ronald Watts scandal took a new turn today as one of his victims sued the city for its failure to release its own full report on the Chicago police officers who… Read More
82 convictions overturned in last 3 years as Members of Watts’ Team Remain with CPD and Taxpayers Continue to Pay Their Salaries CHICAGO – Eight more men framed by disgraced former Chicago police sergeant Ronald Watts and members of Watts’ tactical team sued the current and former cops and the City of Chicago late this… Read More
This quarter’s wrongful conviction roundup again highlights alarming patterns of intentional police misconduct resulting in tragic injustice. There are infamous individual cops who have caused tons of wrongful convictions by doing “whatever it takes” to pin a crime on a suspect rather than conscientiously investigating the crime. The result is that the officers invariably nab… Read More
It is time for the first quarter 2016 wrongful conviction roundup, which includes some Loevy & Loevy clients who were exonerated through the extraordinary efforts of my colleagues. Ernest Matthews: Ernest Matthews spent eight years in prison for a murder he did not commit. In 1992, Mr. Matthews was arrested along with two others, accused of a… Read More
In 2013, Chicago police officer Ronald Watts pled guilty to demanding protection payoffs for years from drug dealers in the Ida B. Wells public housing complex. Watts is currently serving time in federal prison. Watts’ conduct was called a “betrayal” and “unconscionable” by the judge who sentenced him. Despite the deplorable nature of Watts’ conduct,… Read More
