Glenn Evans, who was relieved of his duties pending the outcome of
his case, was charged last year with aggravated battery and official
misconduct in the capture of a suspect on Jan. 30, 2013.
Evans' trial comes a day after the U.S. Department of Justice said
that it was conducting a civil rights investigation of the
third-largest U.S. city's police department, including its use of
force.
The city has seen nearly two weeks of protests following the release
of a video of the shooting death of a 17-year-old black teen by a
white police officer in 2014. The officer, Jason Van Dyke, was
charged with murder in the shooting of Laquan McDonald on the same
day the video was released.
On Monday, prosecutors said they would not seek criminal charges in
another 2014 police shooting which caused the death of Ronald
Johnson III. Prosecutors said Johnson had a gun and was fleeing
arrest.
The amount of force that can be used by police officers has become a
focus of national debate due to a series of high-profile killings of
black men at the hands of mostly white police officers in U.S.
cities.
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Evans, who is black, has been the subject of several police
misconduct lawsuits, according to local media reports. His case will
be tried by Cook County Criminal Court Judge Diane Cannon, without a
jury.
(Reporting by Nikitta Foston and Mary Wisniewski; Editing by
Jonathan Oatis)
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