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Lawyer: Why I'm Defending the Cop Who Shot Laquan McDonald 16 Times

By Paul Biasco | November 30, 2015 5:45am | Updated on November 30, 2015 8:47am
 Dan Herbert, the lawyer for Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyck charged with murdering Laquan McDonald, talks to reporters at his client's bond hearing at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago.
Dan Herbert, the lawyer for Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyck charged with murdering Laquan McDonald, talks to reporters at his client's bond hearing at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago.
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Getty Images/Scott Olson

CHICAGO — His client in jail on a murder charge, the alleged crime creating tensions and turmoil across the city, attorney Daniel Herbert took to Facebook over the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend to try to explain a few things.

"When I took this case I knew I would invite scrutiny. I am OK with that because I believe in my client in this case and I believe in the cause. That is why I accepted this case," wrote Herbert, who is to appear in court Monday with Officer Jason Van Dyke, the first Chicago Police officer ever to be charged with murder on duty.

RELATED: The Laquan McDonald Case

"It is not about cover-ups or defending rogue officers. It is about defending someone who did what he felt was required," he continued.

 Dan Herbert, the lawyer for Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyck charged with murdering Laquan McDonald, talks to reporters at his client's bond hearing at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago.
Dan Herbert, the lawyer for Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyck charged with murdering Laquan McDonald, talks to reporters at his client's bond hearing at the Cook County Criminal Courthouse in Chicago.
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Getty Images/Scott Olson

Herbert charged that Van Dyke's "political leaders, his supervisors and his partners in law enforcement have all turned their backs on him because of political pressure."

"Someone needs to defend him and the other hardworking men and women in law enforcement," he said.

For Herbert, tasked with representing Van Dyke against charges the officer murdered Laquan McDonald, defending police in trouble is a specialty. The son of a Chicago police officer and a former decorated officer himself, Herbert has an extensive history serving the city, county and later the Fraternal Order of Police, the police union.

The union initially stated that McDonald lunged at police with a knife. The dashcam video released last week disproved that claim, and the police union spokesman who made that statement later admitted it was hearsay. After Van Dyke shot and killed McDonald, Herbert was called in to represent Van Dyke on behalf of the police union.

Herbert's resume lists a stint as a Cook County prosecutor. He served as the in-house attorney for the police union between 2005 and 2010. He has continued to represent officers in misconduct cases involving officers out of his private practice.

Herbert, who launched his personal firm, Daniel Q. Herbert and Associates, in 2010, said in a video on his website, "Born and raised in Chicago, I know this city inside and out."

Growing up on the North Side and graduating from Loyola Academy, Herbert followed in his father's footsteps in becoming a police officer. As an officer he received numerous awards including the Fraternal Order of Police Distinguished Service Award for his role in the shooting apprehension of a dangerous offender, according to his biography. That award is given to police for an act of bravery and/or performing above and beyond the call of duty.

Herbert, a police officer between 1992 and 2001, said he attended night classes while working as a police officer. He earned a degree in criminal justice from Lewis University in 1997. He earned his law degree from DePaul University in 2001.

His experience as a police officer likely helps him connect with officers in hot water. Indeed, at a news conference last week, he told reporters, "I've done this for a long time. I have a lot of training in the area of use of force."

"I think it makes him very popular with cops and the police union because he does have that [police] experience," said Julie Herrera, a Chicago-based civil rights and police misconduct attorney.

Herbert's law firm's only other attorney, Thomas Rebholz, is also a former Chicago Police officer and detective, according to the firm's website.

Herbert frequently uses his website to blog about issues facing police officers, including shooting cases. His law firm's Facebook page has been peppered with criticism from critics, with some calling Herbert a "scumbag." Others used it to urge him to "stand tall."

To his supporters, he posted over the weekend, "it truly meant a lot of me."

The McDonald case is undoubtedly the most high-profile case Herbert has taken on, although he has represented officers in a number of headline-grabbing cases over the last few years.

Earlier this year Herbert represented two Chicago Police officers who were accused of sexually assaulting a woman with a blood-alcohol level of .38 percent. The city settled in that case, paying $415,000 to the victim while the officers pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Herbert also represented a Chicago Police detective who was fired over a photo depicting him posing with an African-American man who was lying on his stomach with antlers on his head.

During an interview on WTTW-Channel 11's "Chicago Tonight" program after the release of the graphic McDonald shooting video Tuesday, Herbert said he was surprised by the murder changes brought by the Cook County State's Attorney's Office.

"We suspected that if charges were going to be filed it would have been with the United States Attorney's Office, which of course does not have the ability to charge first-degree murder," Herbert said.

Herbert said he believes the first-degree murder charge is going to be difficult for the state to prove.

"I don’t believe this is a murder case. Certainly Jason Van Dyke did not go out and start his tour of duty with a thought process that he was going to kill Mr. McDonald, let alone anyone else," he said. "He was brought into this situation by the action of Mr. McDonald and he reacted based upon his training and based upon what he was perceiving at the point.”

At the news conference at his office last week, he acknowledged that the video is "difficult to watch" but called it a "a limited video." Video "distorts distances" and does not reveal what his client "was thinking at the time," he said.

"He believed in his heart of hearts he was in fear for his life and concerned about the lives of other police officers and anyone else on the scene," Herbert said.

The legal question will be "would a reasonable police officer in the same situation be scared for himself and for his partners," he said.

Still, with the dashcam video available, it will be a tough defense, according to Jon Loevy, the winningest lawyer in Chicago, according to Crain's.

Loevy's firm has won cases totaling more than $100 million in awards and settlements against the city, including victims of former police Cmdr. Jon Burge.

"Mr. Herbert obviously has a job to do, and he's a respected attorney," Loevy said. "I'm sure he will provide a good defense."

Loevy said the dashcam evidence in this case, which contradicts statements from the police union after the shooting, should give vindication to those who have filed complaints against police in the past that have been dismissed.

"People shouldn’t get the impression that police misconduct is a new phenomenon. The only thing that’s changed is that more of it is being caught on video," Loevy said.

Herbert will be back in court Monday for a bond hearing. Van Dyke has been held without bail pending Monday's hearing because the judge in the case had not been able to review the dashcam footage at that point.

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