Chicago Police Board clears officer of lying
No proof that Gause punched handcuffed man
A Chicago police officer accused of punching a handcuffed detainee in a hospital room nearly seven years ago will get to return to active duty after the city’s police disciplinary panel cleared him Thursday night on allegations that he lied about the incident.
Officer Clauzell Gause faced firing on disciplinary charges of using excessive force on Rayshon Gartley in an observation room at Jackson Park Hospital in June 2014 — an encounter that was captured on security video.
But in a 5-3 decision, the Chicago Police Board ruled there was no evidence to refute Gause’s statements to investigators that he tried to punch Gartley but missed.
“His statement that he swung at Gartley’s head, Gartley ducked and (Gause) missed was consistent with what was shown in the video of those events,” the board majority wrote in its 11-page decision.
The decision marks the end of a lengthy case for Gause that included him being charged criminally with official misconduct. But the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dropped the charge in 2019 after prosecutors say Gartley repeatedly refused to cooperate and show up in court.
It’s not unusual for the Chicago Police Department to try to discipline cops on the same or similar allegations they faced in criminal proceedings. Unlike the more stringent reasonable-doubt standard to prove guilt in a criminal trial, the Police Board determines whether cops violated Police Department rules based on a preponderance of evidence, meaning it was more likely than not.
In Gause’s case, the board dismissed allegations that
he punched Gartley because city officials took more than five years to move to fire the officer — exceeding the state’s statute of limitations. In its written decision, the board blamed the Civilian Office of Police Accountability for taking too long to investigate the case.
But that left a remaining disciplinary charge against Gause, accusing him of lying to COPA about the incident.
The Police Board provided the following narrative of the June 3, 2014, incident:
Gause and his partner, Officer LeShawn Hawkins, transported Gartley from Roseland Hospital to Jackson Park Hospital, where he was taken to a triage area after experiencing a mental health crisis. Gartley punched Gause in the jaw after getting upset that a nurse was having trouble finding his vein to give him a shot to calm him down.
Hawkins and two other officers then took Gartley to the floor and handcuffed him, and Gartley apologized to Gause. Several minutes later, Hawkins escorted Gartley to the observation room.
There, the disciplinary charges — which were later dismissed by board — accused Gause of shoving Gartley into a wall and punching him in the face while his hands were cuffed behind his back. Gause was accused of lying to COPA about the encounter when he told an investigator that he tried to punch Gartley and missed.
“At that time I tried to administer a stunning blow, but he ducked to the — he flopped to the bed,” Gause told COPA, according to the Police Board. “So I never made contact with him when I tried to give him a stunning blow in order for us to be able to remove a
handcuff without us getting — without, I believe me getting — without us getting attacked again.”
At Gause’s Police Board hearing, Gartley testified that Gause hit him in the head and face, and Gartley also pointed out redness or swollen areas of his face in pictures that were admitted into evidence. But the board majority questioned whether Gartley could have received those markings prior to being taken into the observation room.
“Specifically, the markings could have been made before Gartley was picked up for transport by (Gause), or when multiple police officers took him down to the ground after he punched (Gause),” the board majority wrote. “The Board is without sufficient information to find that markings were the result of a blow delivered by (Gause), as opposed to one of the alternative possibilities.”
Also, there were no eyewitnesses who testified during Gause’s hearing that he “made contact” with Gartley. This included Hawkins, Gause’s partner, who testified that he saw Gause swing at Gartley’s head but didn’t see or hear contact between the officer’s fist and Gartley’s body.
What’s more, the video evidence — some of which was released publicly in 2016 by COPA’s predecessor, the Independent Police Review Authority — does not establish that Gause actually punched Gartley, the board majority determined.
“(Gause) can be seen pushing Gartley to the wall and then raising his arm to punch Gartley around the face and the head,” the board wrote. “In both videos, however, Gartley can be seen turning his head away from (Gause) and avoiding the punch.”
The board members who voted to clear Gause were retired Cook County Judge Rhoda Sweeney; Steve Flores, a partner at the law firm Winston & Strawn LLP; Matthew Crowl, a partner at the law firm Riley Safer Holmes & Cancila; Jorge Montes, an attorney with Montes & Associates; and Andrea Zopp, a former deputy mayor under Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
The three board members who voted to fire Gause argued that Gartley’s testimony at the hearing was credible and that the board majority mischaracterized the pictures presented as evidence.
“The majority, we believe, incorrectly discounted those pictures. There was no credible evidence presented to suggest the redness and swollenness on the side of Gartley’s face came from some source other than when (Gause) struck him; instead, the alternative theories were based on speculation,” the three board members who voted to fire Gause — Police Board President Ghian Foreman, Vice President Paula Wolff and the Rev. Michael Eaddy, pastor of the People’s Church of the Harvest on the West Side — said in their dissenting opinion.
The three also don’t agree with the board majority’s interpretation of the video.
“As is evident from a review of the video, (Gause) raised his arm in the air and swung at Gartley’s head. While the videos show that (Gause) did not make full contact with Gartley’s face or head, Gartley moved his head in response to (Gause’s) actions and fell forcibly on the bed, indicating that (Gause’s) fist certainly at least grazed Gartley’s face,” the three dissenters said.
They also said this case only reinforces the need for officers to be better trained in dealing with people with mental health issues.