Bernard Kersh, body-slammed by CPD officer in 2019, in line for $750,000 settlement
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Aldermen are backing a proposed $750,000 settlement with Bernard Kersh, who was body-slammed by a police officer on Thanksgiving Day 2019, months after his attorneys accused the city of withholding key evidence in the case.
Chicago Police Officer Jerald Williams slammed Kersh to the pavement at 79th Street and Cottage Grove Avenue. Cell phone video shared at social media shows Kersh standing against a squad car, his back to Kersh, when the officer picked him up and threw him to the pavement.
CBS 2 Investigators found Williams is a trained mixed martial arts fighter, and videos on Youtube show him using similar maneuvers in the ring. Police have said officers stopped Kersh to give him a ticket when they saw him drinking alcohol in plain view at a bus stop. That's when they said he resisted arrest, and spat at Williams and licked his face.
Kersh later was charged with aggravated battery and resisting arrest. He later pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of battery, but a city attorney told aldermen on Monday that Kersh denies ever spitting on or licking Williams, and said he only pleaded guilty to get out of jail.
Kersh sued the city three months later, accusing Williams of "willful and wanton conduct." Kersh has claimed the bodyslam exacerbated a previous eye injury, left him with cognitive and memory issues due to a concussion, and caused a shoulder injury that still causes him pain.
In March, CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported Kersh's attorneys accused the city of withholding key evidence they were legally required to hand over after Kersh filed an excessive force lawsuit.
"They give us a flash drive with information on it that contains essentially a smoking gun document from the superintendent of police," said attorney Steven Hart.
Hart said the City of Chicago intentionally withheld a crucial document for three years. Hart said he did not even know the document existed.
"It's only after we called them out that they produced this document," Hart said. "This is really bad behavior."
That so-called smoking gun is a 2021 letter from police Supt. David Brown to the Civilian Office of Police Accountability – or COPA. Hart said the letter contradicts the city attorneys representing Officer Williams.
Brown agreed with COPA's findings: "Officer Jerald Williams (PO Williams) used excessive force…. Given the conduct of the officer, the amount of force used, and the manner in which force was used, CPD believes that the penalty should be more significant than 45 days. The CPD contends that Officers Williams should be suspended for 135 days."
"It would be a stretch to suggest it was mere inadvertence. It couldn't be," Hart said. "It's the central issue in this case. This is a repetitive issue for the city."
A 2016 independent investigation into the city's Law Department recommended dozens of reforms after the department came under fire for its mishandling of evidence in police misconduct cases.
On Monday, the city's Law Department recommended that the City Council Finance Committee back a $750,000 settlement with Kersh. While there was no mention of the accusations that city attorneys withheld evidence in the case, the Law Department acknowledged that Brown agreed with COPA that Williams' use of a so-called "emergency takedown" was "not compliant with Chicago Police Department policy."
During the Finance Committee meeting, Ald. Gregory Mitchell (7th) asked if, after COPA and Supt. Brown deemed Williams violated CPD policy, anyone ever said what he should have done instead. City attorneys said no.
The consent decree mandating Chicago Police reports contains only one reference to "take-down techniques." The policy notes only that an officer should not use a chokehold in doing so. Officers can't use force if a suspect is "insulting an officer." But it doesn't talk about spitting or licking the officer.
By a voice vote on Monday, the Finance Committee signed off on a proposed $750,000 settlement with Kersh. The settlement proposal now goes to the full City Council for a vote on Wednesday.
