Chicago City Council to weigh another $35M in settlement payments
CHICAGO - The Chicago City Council is set to vote on approving another $35.6 million in legal settlement payments, most of which stem from alleged police misconduct cases.
The latest batch of settlement figures got the initial OK from the council’s Finance Committee on Monday.
The full City Council will have to give final approval on Wednesday.
What we know:
Just a little over halfway through the year, the City Council has already blown past the $82 million budgeted for settlement payouts. As of last month, aldermen had approved around $140 million in settlements, not including the latest batch advanced to the City Council this week.
The ballooning bill has been worrying aldermen for weeks, with many asking how the city will pay for any amount over what they initially budgeted for.
"It’s infuriating because this is a huge liability that the city is facing, and I’m going to continue to talk about it because at the end of the day, there isn’t a revenue stream or some way, a strategy yet to pay this back," said Ald. Andre Vasquez (40th Ward), during Monday’s committee meeting. "And it’s a looming deficit that’s out there that’s gonna hurt us."
While not all the settlement cases involved police misconduct, numerous settlements stemmed from overturned convictions after defendants claimed their confessions were coerced by abusive police investigators.
City attorneys revealed on Monday that there were another 275 reverse conviction cases yet to be resolved, many stemming from misconduct by disgraced CPD officers like Ronald Watts and Reynaldo Guevara.
City attorneys detailed each of the cases up for consideration.
Roberto Almodovar v. Reynaldo Guevara, et al - $17 million
Roberto Almodovar was convicted of a 1994 double murder, but that was later overturned in 2017 after claims that a witness statement tying him to the crime was recanted.
The investigation in this case involved disgraced CPD Det. Reynaldo Guevara.
Almodovar and a co-defendant challenged their convictions based on Guevara's record, which prosecutors later decided not to challenge. Almodovar was released after 23 years in custody and granted a certificate of innocence.
City attorneys said he could seek between $40 million and $100 million at trial, so they settled for $17 million, which was consistent with previous settlements in cases involving Guevara.
Jackie Wilson v. Jon Burge, et al - $12.7 million
Jackie Wilson sued the city after his conviction related to the murders of two Chicago police officers in 1982 by his brother, Andrew Wilson.
The two were pulled over by officers while driving in the 8100 block of S. Morgan. When they were told to get out of the car to be arrested, Andrew took one of the two officers' guns and shot and killed them.
While both brothers were convicted of the crime, Jackie on the theory of accountability, they both claimed they were abused by disgraced CPD Det. John Burge. City attorneys said the case led to Burge's termination.
Andrew was again convicted of the crime, but the charges against Jackie were eventually dismissed, and he was granted a certificate of innocence.
After being detained for 36 years, attorneys feared Jackie Wilson could ask for $100 million in damages based on his certificate of innocence and the abuse claims.
Marley Aguilar v. Eric Duron, et al - $3 million
Marley Aguilar is the sister of Matthew Aguilar, who allegedly ran from Chicago police officers during an incident in 2018 on the city's Southwest Side.
As Matthew Aguilar began to run, two CPD officers began to chase him, one on foot, and another in a squad car. The driver lost track of Aguilar and, after driving over a steel construction plate, tried to back up, and ran over him.
Aguilar was found on the ground with serious injuries. He was hospitalized and put into a medically-induced coma for seven days. He had fractures in his face, a broken skull, jaw, teeth and a separated lip, loss of hearing in one ear, a crushed tear duct, a broken elbow, a broken leg and lacerations to his neck.
Aguilar was permanently disabled, city attorneys said.
Gilbert Mendez v. City of Chicago - $2.5 million
The lawsuit stemmed from a 2017 search warrant executed by Chicago police in a McKinley Park home with two parents and two children inside.
The plaintiffs claimed the officers used excessive force and that the search warrant was invalid.
They also said that two of the officers pointed their guns at their children, although no body camera footage of the event confirmed the claim. The plaintiffs also claimed that the search left both children with PTSD and costly psychiatric care, a claim the city contested.
Still, city attorneys said a trail would cost around $3 million and that a settlement would be a less expensive route.
Felicia Nalls-Bradley v. City of Chicago - $400,00
Felicia Nalls-Bradley sued the city after tripping on a sidewalk where the concrete slabs were uneven in 2022. The height difference was about 4.5 to 5 inches, according to city attorneys.
Officials said the Department of Transportation had been called to that area for various other issues, which might make the city liable for fixing the problem before Nalls-Bradley's fall.
As a result of the fall, the plaintiff underwent brain surgery for bleeding and was hospitalized for four days. She also had to be treated for a swollen eye, blurry vision, headaches and arm pain. Her medical bills totaled about $265,000.