A federal jury today found in favor of a female bartender who was beaten by an off-duty Chicago police officer in a notorious 2007 attack captured on security cameras.
Jurors held both the city and Abbate responsible. The jury awarded the bartender, Karolina Obrycka, $850,000 in compensatory damages, which her attorneys will collect from the city, they said after the verdict.
Obrycka’s lawyers contended a code of silence protected former Chicago cop Anthony Abbate from punishment until the damning videotape was made public.
Obrycka contended during the trial that Abbate, other officers and higher-ups tried to cover up and minimize her February 2007 beating as part of an unofficial “code of silence” policy within the department.
The trial in federal court came nearly six years after Abbate attacked Obrycka at Jesse’s Short Stop Inn when he went behind the bar.
The eight-woman, three-man jury found that Abbate was part of the conspiracy to cover up the beating and that the Police Department had a widespread code of silence that emboldened Abbate to beat up Obrycka.
The videotape of Abbate pummeling a woman about half his size marked one of the most embarrassing chapters in recent Chicago Police Department history and contributed to the resignation of then-Superintendent Philip Cline.
Fearful that the department would not discipline Abbate, Obrycka’s lawyers have said they released the videotape to the news media, causing an Internet sensation with the graphic images.
The verdict in the high-stakes trial came after two days of deliberations and a complicated, lengthy trial that saw more than three dozen witnesses offer contradictory and colorful testimony about the beating in Jesse’s Short Stop Inn on the Northwest Side.
At the center of the trial was the allegation that a long-standing code of silence protects officers who use excessive force or engage in other misconduct. As a result, Obrycka’s lawyers maintained that Abbate acted with impunity in the bar because he was unafraid of consequences, the result of the blue wall of silence as well as department’s history of ineffective discipline action against wayward officers.
Just days after the tavern owner installed security cameras, Abbate went into a rage when Obrycka tried to prevent him from coming behind the bar. Abbate, who testified he was drunk after downing multiple alcoholic drinks and shots, tossed Obrycka to the floor and then whaled away at her with his fists and feet.
“Nobody tells me what to do,” Abbate was heard proclaiming on the videotape repeatedly played in court during the three-week trial.
City attorneys argued that Abbate’s actions were simply the result of his being so drunk. He was too intoxicated to think a code of silence would protect him, they said.
Obrycka’s lawyers urged the jury to hold Abbate personally liable for his role in the alleged cover-up that followed the beating. Abbate allegedly threatened to plant cocaine and falsely charge Obrycka if she complained about the beating or released the videotape. Obrycka’s lawyers contended the cover-up even stretched high into Police Department ranks.
At trial, high-level officials from the Police Department and the Cook County state’s attorney’s office clashed over who wanted to aggressively prosecute Abbate. He had originally been charged with just a misdemeanor – a move that one top prosecutor said his office knew nothing about and could have jeopardized plans to charge Abbate with a felony. But police officials contended that same prosecutor had voiced support for a misdemeanor.
“Speechless,” Obrycka said moments immediately after the verdict was read. “I am very happy justice was served. It’s finally over.”
