A Cook County jury on Wednesday found Chicago Police Officer Eric Holder innocent of assaulting two fellow officers, but guilty of resisting arrest in a case that had both racial and police-brutality overtones.
Holder, an African-American officer from the Harrison District, closed his eyes and smiled when the judge read the not guilty verdicts. Then, when the guilty verdict was read, he closed his eyes tight, leaned back on his heels and grimaced.
Police Officer Ronald Meziere and Sgt. Patrick Minogue, the white Austin District officers Holder was charged with assaulting, smiled and clasped hands when the guilty verdict was read.
“I guess it’s a partial victory,” Holder said as he left Cook County Circuit Court. “In my opinion, if there was no cause for the arrest, then how could I be guilty of resisting the arrest?”
“It’s not a clear message,” added Holder’s attorney, Corinth Bishop. “Possibly the jury was confused.”
Holder was charged with two counts of misdemeanor battery and one count of resisting arrest in connection with a July 10 shooting on the city’s West Side–an incident the U.S. Justice Department and police department internal investigators are examining.
As with the allegations by Jeremiah Mearday, an 18-year-old who says he was beaten by two officers in another incident, Holder’s case has roiled the community and caused division within the police department, particularly along racial lines.
Those divisions were evident during Holder’s three-day trial, for which representatives from the African-American Police League and officials from the Greater Chicago Committee Against Police Brutality both turned out. The Greater Chicago Committee was formed in response to the Mearday case.
Also in attendance Wednesday was a group of about eight Chicago police officers who accompanied Meziere and Minogue. After the verdict was read and the courtroom cleared, the officers stood in the back hallway congratulating each other.
“We are very happy with the verdict,” said Assistant State’s Atty. Anna Demacopoulos. “This verdict shows no one is above the law.”
Prosecutors contended that Holder, while off-duty, shoved two officers who were investigating the shooting of the brother of Holder’s girlfriend. Four Austin District police officers testified that Holder refused to follow orders and became combative when they tried to arrest him.
Defense attorneys contended that Holder was trying to calm down a crowd when he was ambushed by the officers. Several neighborhood residents testified that the officers started the confrontation with Holder, even after he identified himself as a police officer. They testified that the officers threw Holder to the ground and beat him with flashlights and batons while uttering racial slurs.
The most vivid testimony Wednesday came from Aaron Golden, whose voice was captured on a 911 tape the night of the incident. Golden, a neighbor of Holden’s girlfriend, testified that he’d never seen Holden before that night.
“You’ve got some white police officers that have jumped a black police officer,” Aaron Golden’s voice is heard saying. “He identified himself as a police officer and the other police officers said, `So (expletive) what? Get the (expletive) away from here.’ They are talking about kicking his ass. You need to get a captain down here.”
During closing arguments, Demacopoulos repeatedly slammed a police baton and two flashlights against a wooden table.
“This case is not about race and it is not about police brutality. It is about the choices Eric Holder made that night,” she said. “He shoved the two officers and when they tried to arrest him, he resisted. It’s that simple.”
Holder is to be sentenced in March.
