On Tuesday, three Chicago police officers were accused of manufacturing evidence in order to frame a former gang member.
Six years ago, Paul Myvett was accused of shooting a man during an altercation inside a restaurant, but when it came time for his trial, he won the case without having to put up a defense after his attorneys suggested that the officers had fabricated the evidence.
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“What we expect the evidence will show is that the detectives and the sergeant fabricated identifications, witness statements, and statements from the victim, the man who was shot, in order to frame our client,” said attorney Jeff Neslund.
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When asked why the officers would fabricate evidence, Neslund replied, “Yah know I can’t crawl into the heads of the officers and speculate about their motives, but they certainly get overtime pay all the time coming to court.”
For example, Detective Edward Heerdt was listed as having the fifth-highest overtime pay of all the city employees, at $100,000 for the year 2014.
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Heerdt’s attorney Scott Cohen shot back by saying the city had “a relatively high violent crime rate” and “the fact that he earns considerable overtime through working long hours or attending court is not surprising or improper.”