Judge: City Attorney Withheld Information In Wrongful-Death Case Involving Chicago Cops
(CBS) -- A city attorney resigned Monday after a federal judge said he intentionally hid evidence while defending two Chicago police officers in a wrongful-death lawsuit.
The judge has now ordered a new trial and is forcing the city to pay attorney's fees.
This revolves around a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the family of Darius Pinex against the city.
Pinex, 27, was stopped by police and then fatally shot in 2011.
A jury decided in favor of the police last April.
But now a federal judge has ruled there should be a new trial because a city attorney had crucial information that he did not disclose to plaintiffs.
"He said the attorney for the city had intentionally hidden evidence, which is very troubling," says Steve Greenberg, the attorney for Pinex's family.
"It shows that this culture of indifference to finding out the truth, to holding people accountable, goes up to the highest levels," Greenberg adds.
Chicago police shot Pinex on a South Side street in January 2011, saying the car he was in matched the description of a vehicle wanted in a shooting.
U.S. District Judge Edmond Chang on Monday said city attorney Jordan Marsh withheld information that may have cast doubt on those claims.
Marsh resigned Monday, the city's Department of Law said. "The conduct outlined by the court in today's decision is unacceptable," the department said in a prepared statement.
Greenberg says Pinex's mother is "ecstatic" about the federal judge's ruling.
