Chicago officer acquitted on putting gun in suspect's mouth

CHICAGO (AP) — A county judge on today acquitted a Chicago police commander accused of shoving his gun down a suspect's throat, outlining what she said were flaws in the state's case and stressing that it shouldn't be conflated with other recent incidents of alleged police misconduct in the city and elsewhere.

Meanwhile, a federal judge ruled in a separate civil case that an officer used excessive force by dragging a handcuffed man from his jail cell after he had been subdued with stun guns. Video of the 2012 incident was among several released in the recent weeks amid heavy criticism of the Chicago Police Department's treatment of minorities, particularly blacks.

In the criminal case, Cook County Judge Diane Cannon found Cmdr. Glenn Evans not guilty of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and official misconduct stemming from the 2013 arrest of Rickey Williams, whom Evans believed he had seen holding a gun. Both Evans and Williams are black.

Cannon said she didn't find Williams' story believable, accusing him of changing it repeatedly. And she dismissed evidence thought to be among the most damning — Williams' DNA on Evans' gun — suggesting it was collected so sloppily that that it was of "fleeting relevance." She opened and closed her remarks by cautioning that the case shouldn't be grouped with other recent cases of alleged police misconduct.

"My ruling does not pertain to misconduct," the judge said. "This is just one case."