Chicago Police commander contradicts LeGrier’s dad
For the third time in a week, a Chicago Police official contradicted the testimony of Quintonio LeGrier’s father.
Kevin Duffin served as Commander of Area North Detectives before he retired this year. He was at the scene of the shooting at 4710 W. Erie and interviewed LeGrier’s father twice in the hours after.
Duffin testified Tuesday that Antonio LeGrier told him that “the police did what they needed to do” after Officer Robert Rialmo fatally shot his son in the early hours of Dec. 26, 2015.
Upon hearing Duffin say that, Antonio LeGrier — who has sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery throughout the trial — leaned forward and put his face in his hands.
In recent days, both Rialmo and his partner, Anthony LaPalermo, testified to hearing Antonio LeGrier say words to the same effect. Antonio LeGrier flatly denied ever saying it when he testified last week.
Antonio LeGrier called 911 after his son tried to break into his room — which was barricaded with a 2x4 — with an aluminum baseball bat. His son also called police.
Rialmo and LaPalermo responded to the calls about 4: 25 a. m. Rialmo has said that moments after he got to the front door, LeGrier charged at him with the bat and took a swing, missing only by a few inches as he stood on the front porch. Rialmo says he then opened fire as he was backpedaling off the steps of the front porch.
LeGrier was shot at least five times, including several in the back, and was found unresponsive in the vestibule of the building. His estate filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the city and Rialmo shortly after.
Bettie Jones, the LeGriers’ downstairs neighbor who opened the door for police, was accidentally shot and killed. Her estate reached a $ 16 million settlement with the city.
Attorneys for the city and Rialmo— who is also suing the LeGrier estate — rested Tuesday, as well. Closing arguments will be given Wednesday morning.
Duffin further testified that he first spoke to the elder LeGrier for about 15 or 20 minutes in his bedroom on the second floor of the West Side two- flat about an hour after Rialmo shot his son. Duffin said he responded to the scene because it was just after Christmas and he had a “skeleton crew” of detectives working that night.
He said Antonio LeGrier “seemed surprisingly calm” given the circumstances.
Duffin said that Antonio LeGrier first told him he was in his bedroom when he heard the gunshots coming from outside. Duffin said that later, when Antonio LeGrier was asked to come to Area North headquarters at Belmont and Western, he told him that he was halfway down the stairs and could see out the door, onto the porch and down the walkway of the building.
Antonio LeGrier testified last week that he didn’t see anyone from his perch on the stairs when he heard the gunfire.
Between his conversation with the elder LeGrier in his bedroom and the one that he had at the police station, Duffin said Antonio LeGrier’s version of events “differed at several points.”
Dr. Hilary McElligott, a forensic pathologist retained by the city who works in the DuPage County medical examiner’s office, testified Tuesday that, based on her review of Rialmo’s statements, the gunshot wounds to Antonio LeGrier’s left shoulder were “consistent” with him having raised a bat above his head.
Last week, a forensic pathologist retained by the LeGrier estate differed, saying that there was no evidence to show that Quintonio LeGrier had a bat raised above his head when he was shot.
Dr. Judy Melinek also said that, because one of the bullets partially severed his spinal cord, Quintonio LeGrier would have been paralyzed from the waist down. With that paralysis, Melinek said, Quintonio LeGrier would not have been able to move to the vestibule if he were at the edge of the porch, as Rialmo has said.
Under cross- examination from LeGrier estate attorney Jack Kennedy, McElligott conceded that she relied mostly upon Rialmo’s statements to come to her conclusions and did not perform an independent analysis of the materials presented to her.
“I took the information in the depositions and statements and used them as to form my opinion,” she said.
The case has largely centered around how close LeGrier and Rialmo were to each other when Rialmo opened fire, as well as where the two were on the property at the time.