Judge to announce verdict in Chicago police conspiracy case

A judge is set to announce a verdict Thursday for three Chicago police officers accused of lying in their reports to protect the white officer who fatally shot black teenager Laquan McDonald.

Cook County Judge Domenica Stephenson is expected to give her ruling at a hearing scheduled for 1 p.m. CST (1900 GMT). The trial began on November 27

David March, Joseph Walsh, and Thomas Gaffney are charged with conspiracy, obstruction of justice and official misconduct for allegedly lying about the 2014 shooting, which sparked large protests and accusations of a cover-up after dash cam video of the confrontation emerged 13 months after it happened.

The video, which city officials refused to release until ordered by a judge, showed Officer Jason Van Dyke firing round after round into the 17-year-old, and it conflicted with the officers' accounts, which stated that McDonald aggressively swung a knife at police and kept trying to get up even after he was shot.

Van Dyke was found guilty in October of shooting Laquan McDonald, in one of a series of police killings of black men and teens that has raised questions about the use of deadly force by police.

Van Dyke is believed to be the first Chicago officer convicted in a fatal on-duty shooting of an African-American. The other three are thought to the first to be charged with trying to cover up an on-duty shooting. Gaffney is the only one who remains with the police department.

Van Dyke, 40, is in jail awaiting sentencing, which is expected on Friday. He faces up to 20 years in prison for the second-degree murder conviction and up to 30 years for each of the 16 counts of aggravated battery, one for each shot he fired at McDonald.

The misconduct charge against March, Walsh, and Gaffney carries a maximum prison term of five years. The obstruction charge carries a maximum three-year term. The maximum sentence for conspiracy cannot exceed the sentence for the underlying offenses.