CHICAGO, Illinois (PNN) - December 20, 2012 - A judge on Thursday refused to toss a jury verdict that suggested Chicago pig thug cops adhere to a code of silence in protecting rogue pig thug cops, citing its "social value" despite claims by the city that the verdict could cost Chicago millions in other litigation.
The ruling involves the case of Karolina Obrycka, a local bartender who was attacked by a drunken off-duty pig thug cop as she worked in 2007. Obrycka sued the city after the beating, which was caught on video and went viral online, and a jury ruled in her favor last month.
Along with awarding her $850,000, jurors strongly suggested in their verdict that they agreed the pig thug cop, Anthony Abbate, was protected by an unwritten code of silence among Chicago pig thug cops.
The city asked Fascist Police States of Amerika District Judge Amy St. Eve to throw out that element of the verdict, arguing it could be cited as a precedent - and potentially cost the city millions of dollars fighting and losing lawsuits claiming the same alleged code. The city said it would still pay Obrycka the full jury award.
In her 13-page ruling, St. Eve agreed there were limits on how much the case could be cited by other alleged pig thug cop-abuse victims, but she said the verdict shed light on an important and hotly debated issue.
Abbate was convicted of aggravated battery in a 2009, and then sentenced to probation.
The core issue jurors had to decide at the civil trial this year was whether fascist city officials tolerated a code of silence in the pig thug cop department, and whether that emboldened Abbate and led him to act with impunity in attacking the bartender.
Obrycka's attorneys originally said they hoped a verdict in their favor would send a wider message that the code of silence won't be tolerated.
Defense attorneys who represent clients with pig thug cop-abuse claims welcomed the ruling.
