Judge orders release of documents in Laquan McDonald murder case

Leah Hope Image
Thursday, April 26, 2018
Judge orders release of documents in Laquan McDonald murder case
Judge Vincent Gaughan ordered the release of dozens of documents Thursday in the pre-trial proceedings in the murder trial of former CPD officer Jason Van Dyke.

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Judge Vincent Gaughan ordered the release of dozens of documents Thursday in the pre-trial proceedings in the murder trial of former CPD officer Jason Van Dyke.

The complete documents will not be released immediately as attorneys will be allowed to block witnesses' names. The release comes after attorneys representing Chicago media companies filed a Motion for Access.

Van Dyke is accused of shooting teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times.

Van Dyke's attorneys continue to argue for a change of venue due to attention to the case.

As the judge considers that Motion to Change Venue, it was revealed that research found the case gets more than 1 million hits on Google and more than 8,000 articles have been reported on this case.

The case is continued until an unusual Saturday court date to accommodate the court's busy schedule.

Van Dyke, his attorneys, special prosecutor and attorneys for the media will be back in court this Saturday at 9:00 a.m. to argue about the release of more documents that have been inaccessible to the public.