Judge pushes back at calls for Van Dyke's trial to start
CHICAGO (AP) - Protesters are angry about waiting for a Chicago police officer to stand trial for murder in the 2014 shooting death of black teenager Laquan McDonald but the judge says the case "will go to trial when it's fair."
On Thursday, as protesters gathered outside the Chicago courthouse, Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan explained the case has generated thousands of pages of documents and emails and that various issues must be decided before Jason Van Dyke can stand trial.
One issue yet to be decided is whether the trial will be held in Chicago. Van Dyke's attorneys want a change of venue because they say the extensive media attention and comments made by Mayor Rahm Emanuel about the case have made a fair trial in in the city impossible.