Van Dyke unlikely to be sentenced this year
Jason Van Dyke is unlikely to be sentenced to prison for the Laquan McDonald shooting this year.
Van Dyke on Wednesday returned to Judge Vincent Gaughan’s courtroom for the first time since a jury four weeks ago found him guilty of second-degree murder and 16 counts of aggravated battery.
Van Dyke, wearing a mustardyellow jail jumpsuit, walked into court escorted by sheriff ’s officers, his unshackled hands clasped behind his back.
Van Dyke said nothing during his roughly 10 minutes in the courtroom, as Gaughan set a Dec. 14 date for yet another hearing on two motions filed by Van Dyke’s lawyers, a motion for a new trial and another seeking to overturn the guilty verdict and acquit Van Dyke.
The post-trial motions are a routine step in what is likely to be a months- or years-long appeals process for Van Dyke. If Gaughan denies Van Dyke’s motions for acquittal and a new trial — which he is almost certain to do — the judge will set more deadlines for motions from Van Dyke’s lawyers and Special Prosecutor Joseph McMahon that will outline how long each side believes Van Dyke ought to serve in prison.
Addressing reporters in the courthouse lobby after the hearing, Van Dyke’s lead attorney, Dan Herbert, said they believe Van Dyke’s sentence should be based on the second-degree murder conviction, which carries a sentence of as little as probation and no more than 30 years in prison.
Other legal experts, Herbert acknowledged, have suggested that Van Dyke should be sentenced based on his convictions of aggravated battery with a firearm, each of which carries a sentence of six to 30 years.
“This is about as clear as mud, the sentencing ranges here,” Herbert said.
Van Dyke was able to spend a few minutes with his family after the brief hearing. Van Dyke, who was taken into custody immediately after the verdict, was transferred out of Cook County Jail for safety reasons within days of the guilty verdict. He since has been kept in isolation at the county jail in Rock Island, three hours west of Chicago.
“He is doing OK, but he is sad, and he is scared, and he is lonely,” Herbert said.
It seems unlikely that the motions by the defense will sway Gaughan. The motion for a new trial rehashes defense arguments that Van Dyke’s trial should have been moved out of Cook County, motions that Gaughan struck down several times.
In a separate motion seeking to have Van Dyke acquitted, the defense largely renewed arguments it made in seeking to dismiss the charges ahead of trial, including that state law allows police officers to use deadly force against an offender who has committed forcible felonies.
Van Dyke has no interaction with other inmates and spends 24 hours a day in a cell, mostly reading books about sports, as well as “Marley & Me,” a memoir of dog ownership by columnist John Grogan, Herbert said.