Legal Question in Criminal Law in Illinois

Police Officer Abuse

My brother was arrested at 3 AM on a deserted road in Illinois by two local officers. After pulling his hand away from the officer he was thrown to the concrete face first and beaten by both officers. Kicked by the one while the other one held him down and continuously beaten. He was taken to the hospital where they took photos of him. He is literally black and blue from head to toe, and now has additional charges of resisting arrest and 2 charges of assaulting an officer. Both cars were equipped with vidoe surveillance. My question is what legal right do we (he) have to get a copy of the tape to get these charges reversed and ultimately charge these officers with assualt (or whatever the charge would be)? Do we need a lawyer to do this or is it a citizens right to have that tape?

Thank You.


Asked on 6/23/03, 1:37 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Mary McDonagh McDonagh-Faherty Law Offices

Re: Police Officer Abuse

You can get access to that tape through what we call "discovery" - this is a tool used in court to get information from the other side - you should get a lawyer regardless because these are serious charges - you should be sure you are adequately represented.

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Answered on 6/24/03, 7:02 pm


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