A colored Cook County judge on Wednesday barred attorneys for a Chicago police officer charged with murder in the shooting of Laquan McDonald from reviewing protected juvenile records detailing the state ward's chaotic childhood, saying she was troubled by the request.Judge Patricia Martin, who presides over the juvenile court's child protection division, held that Officer Jason Van Dyke has no legal right to the confidential files simply because he is charged criminally with the 17-year-old boy's death.
"This court is troubled by your argument that you have a (legal) standing because you represent a person who is charged with the murder of this young man. ... I don't find you have a special interest in these files," said Martin, citing the state's Juvenile Court Act.
The judge's ruling came after lawyers for McDonald's mother strenuously objected, calling the request by Van Dyke's lawyers "a fishing expedition" for "otherwise irrelevant and inadmissible evidence to shift focus away from the graphic video" of the October 2014 shooting.
"Laquan McDonald is a victim, and was for most of his life," attorney Robert Robertson wrote in a 21-page document filed Wednesday on behalf of the slain teen's mother. "Now, in death, (Van Dyke's legal team) seeks access to the most intimate details of his young life for purposes of defending the man who shot Laquan repeatedly as he lay defenseless in the street."
It was for similar reasons that child advocates contacted by the Tribune last month expressed outrage after Van Dyke's lawyers sought access to the juvenile records. But legal experts defended the move, saying the defense had a duty to pursue all possible evidence in preparation for the high-stakes trial. Still, some lawyers doubted the judge presiding over Van Dyke's case would allow the defense at trial to delve into McDonald's troubled past.
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