Silke Jasso
Michael LaPorta was left permanently disabled after suffering a gunshot wound to the head, January 12th in 2010.
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The bullet that severely injured LaPorta came from Chicago Police Officer Patrick Kelly’s service weapon, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. A lawyer representing LaPorta’s family says there is “overwhelming evidence” that Kelly—who was a close friend of LaPorta—shot him. The lawyer is claiming Chicago police is attempting to protect one of their own.
In court on Tuesday during testimony in the family’s lawsuit against the city, a lawyer for the city – Elieen Rosen – pointed to a video of Kelly handcuffed in a police interview room in the hours after LaPorta’s shootings, telling jurors, “That’s not special treatment.”
Rosen also said LaPorta’s family will not be able to overcome a vital question in the trial, which is whether or not Kelly did, in fact, pull the trigger.
“They cannot prove that Kelly shot LaPorta,” the Sun-Times notes Rosen said.
In the report notes, it is said that a jury is considering whether the city failed to control Kelly, who has a peppered history of violence and was described in court as a “loose-cannon, ticking-time-bomb police officer.”
