Tuesday could be a pivotal day in the trial of a wrongful death lawsuit against the City of Chicago, as the officer who fatally shot two people in December 2015 was expected to testify in court.
Chicago police officer Robert Rialmo admits to firing the shots that killed Quintonio Legrier and downstairs neighbor Bettie Jones, but maintains that he only did so because Legrier lunged at him with a baseball bat. Legrier's family filed the lawsuit against the city.
"This is a combat situation," Rialmo's attorney Joel Brodsky said. "This guy is making a life or death decision in a matter of a half a second, and they are asking him: 'where exactly were your feet placed?' It's very irrelevant."
But in their opening statements, Legrier’s attoreys argued that Rialmo fired from outside, near the sidewalk, striking Legrier and Jones who were inside the building.
Rialmo, who has been on desk duty since the shooting, was not in court Monday when the trial began - a choice that the attorney for Legrier's family called "very uncommon."
"Generally the person representing the defendant in cases like this wants the defendant to be present," he said. "Especially in a police case. Jurors tend to favor police officers, therefore you tend to want to have them there to be seen."
Rialmo, who is countersuing the Legrier estate for emotional distress, and the city of Chicago for failing to train him adequately, planned to take the stand Tuesday to give his version of events - likely the only day he would be in court during the trial, his attorney said.
"It's not necessary for him to be here and I don’t want him here," Brodysky said.
Despite having to leave the courtroom a number of times Monday, Janet Cooksey says she plans to sit through as much of this trial as she can.
"She is determined she is going to stick it through this trial because this is important," attorney James Montgomery said. "This is her son’s life. This is her opportunity to get justice."
The trial was expected to last two to three weeks.
