COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — A Cook County judge on Thursday said he planned to appoint a special prosecutor in the murder case against Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago Police officer who shot and killed Laquan McDonald in 2014.
In a surprise move last month, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez announced she would recuse herself from Van Dyke's case.
A coalition of attorneys and activists in February filed a petition seeking a special prosecutor in the case, arguing that Alvarez couldn't be trusted because she had a "political alliance with the police union."
Judge Vincent Gaughan on Thursday said he would grant that request.
The judge said he wasn't yet ready to rule on whether special prosecutors are also needed to investigate other Chicago Police officers who were on the scene the night McDonald was killed. The next hearing is set for July 1.
In coming weeks, the judge plans to reach out to the Illinois Attorney General and various state prosecutors to gauge their interest and availability for Van Dyke's case.
Locke Bowman and Flint Taylor, two of the attorneys behind the petition seeking a special prosecutor, on Thursday said they've submitted a list of four potential candidates to Gaughan — "people of integrity and true independence," Bowman said.
While the attorneys wouldn't share names, they did say the list includes local African-American candidates who have no ties to Alvarez's office. The ideal, Taylor said, would be for each prospective prosecutor to work together as a team moving forward.
When Alvarez announced her decision last month, she insisted in a court filing that there was no conflict of interest for her office to handle the prosecution of Van Dyke.
"Nevertheless, because the primary goal of State's Attorney Alvarez is, and has always been, to obtain justice for Laquan McDonald, and ensure continuity in the handling of this important and complicated case, State's Attorney Alvarez has elected to recuse herself and her assistants from this matter ..." Alvarez said in her filing.
Alvarez later said in a statement: "While it is has not been an easy decision, I believe that it is the right one because it will help to avoid unnecessary legal delays and provide continuity in the handling of this very important and complicated case. It would also ensure that one designated prosecutor will handle this case as it proceeds to trial."
Van Dyke is free on bond as he awaits trial on murder charges in the death of McDonald, 17.
McDonald had been stealing car radios and was armed with a three-inch blade when Chicago Police officers in Archer Heights called in a radio request for a Taser on Oct. 20, 2014, prosecutors have said.
Van Dyke and his partner responded to the call, but never specified whether they had a Taser. Within seconds of arriving on the scene, Van Dyke pulled his gun and emptied his clip into McDonald, shooting the teen 16 times, according to authorities. Video of the shooting, which was released via a court order in November 2015, sparked citywide protests that shut down the Mag Mile.
Alvarez lost her bid for re-election in the March primary, garnering only 33 percent of the vote, compared to Kim Foxx's 52 percent, according to the Cook County Clerk's website.
Many attribute the heavy loss to how Alvarez handled the McDonald case, including her nearly 400-day delay in filing charges against Van Dyke. Anti-Alvarez activists campaigned for Foxx, and the hashtag #byeanita took off on social media on election night.
Read what Alvarez's team presented in court when asking to be recused:
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