CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) – A Chicago City Council committee is recommending settlement of a multi-million dollar case of wrongful imprisonment but aldermen balked at paying in a smaller, but more contentious case of a police killing.
Members of the Council’s finance committee voted unanimously to award $14 million to Kevin Bailey and Corey Batchelor, jailed for a combined total of 46 years for a murder they didn’t commit. The men said their false confessions were tortured out of them.
But the votes were not there for Lenora Bonds, whose son Terrance Harris was shot 26 times and killed by police during what turned out to be a mental health episode. He stabbed the crisis intervention trained officer who tried to help and would not drop the knife when ordered.
Ald. Silvana Tabares was among those who voted no, explaining the award would send the wrong message to police officers who have to make split-second decisions.
Thirteen Council Finance Committee members voted to approve giving Leonora Bonds $125,000 in settlement for the killing of her mentally ill son. But 13 voted against it, so that’s a rejection.
Deputy Corporation Counsel Victoria Benson said the lawsuit contended that the City’s Crisis Intervention Training failed. But, she notes a CIT trained officer was on the scene.
Among other cases that did win committee approval: $425,000 for a man who was shot while fleeing police officers and $115,000 for two men arrested for illegal gun possession when one of them properly owned the weapons and had a Firearm Owners Identification (FOID) card.
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