After detective’s acquittal in fatal shooting, prosecutors face criticism

Detective’s recommended firing owes to public pressure, his attorney says
Chicago Det. Dante Servin, last year, hears a Cook County judge acquit him of criminal charges in his fatal shooting of Rekia Boyd, 22. The Chicago Police Board announced the resignation of Det. Dante Servin this summer. Pool photo by John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune
Detective’s recommended firing owes to public pressure, his attorney says
Chicago Det. Dante Servin, last year, hears a Cook County judge acquit him of criminal charges in his fatal shooting of Rekia Boyd, 22. The Chicago Police Board announced the resignation of Det. Dante Servin this summer. Pool photo by John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune

After detective’s acquittal in fatal shooting, prosecutors face criticism

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Cleared of charges after fatally shooting an African American woman, a Chicago police detective says justice was served. But the woman’s supporters say the detective deserved to go to prison. They are slamming the acquittal and the way the case was prosecuted.

Det. Dante Servin faced charges including involuntary manslaughter for the 2012 death of Rekia Boyd, 22. Before hearing the defense present its witnesses, Cook County Associate Judge Dennis J. Porter abruptly ended the trial Monday. He read a seven-page order that acquitted Servin on all counts.

To some folks in the courtroom, Porter seemed to be saying the trial might have ended differently if prosecutors had charged the detective with murder. And it’s not just Boyd’s friends and relatives questioning Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s office. Some legal scholars are too.

Our story (listen above) explores whether the charges were appropriate through the eyes of the judge, Boyd’s family, the detective, the state’s attorney and an outside expert.

Chip Mitchell is WBEZ’s West Side bureau reporter. Follow him @ChipMitchell1. In the photo, Servin hears the judge acquit him on Monday (John J. Kim, Chicago Tribune).