Second Cop-Killing Conviction In Days
By Jon Yates, The Chicago Tribune.
Tribune staff reporter Jeff Coen contributed to this report
For the second time in less than a week, a Cook County jury convicted an accused cop-killer, finding James Scott guilty of first-degree murder Tuesday in the 1999 slaying of Chicago Police Officer John Knight.
The verdict, reached after more than 13 hours of deliberation, brought tears of joy from Knight’s widow, and sobs from Scott’s mother.
“Wonderful news, wonderful news,” Joan Knight said as she emerged from the courtroom, more than five years after her husband was shot to death while on duty on the South Side.
“It shouldn’t have to be this way,” Joan Knight said. “It’s taken way too long.”
The conviction means Scott, 28, could face the death penalty if the jury decides Scott knew Knight was a police officer when he killed him Jan. 9, 1999. The jury will meet to decide that issue, along with Scott’s sentence, beginning Wednesday afternoon.
The verdict came just four days after another Cook County jury found Aloysius Oliver guilty of killing Chicago Police Officer Eric Lee in 2001.
Outside the courtroom Tuesday, Cook County State’s Atty. Richard Devine told reporters the verdicts “sent a clear message that police officers who are out on the streets serving and protecting will be protected themselves when evil people seek to harm or kill them.”
A short time after the verdict was read, a police dispatcher relayed the news over police radios.
A statement sent out by the department called Knight “a great police officer, husband and father.”
“For all who knew him, this verdict brings great relief,” the statement said. “For all the people John worked for, this is justice.”
Scott had claimed self-defense, saying he did not know Knight and his partner, James Butler, were police officers when they tried to pull him over on suspicion he had stolen a car. After a brief chase, Scott crashed his car, then fled on foot before firing back into the unmarked squad car, killing Knight with two shots to the head.
Scott said he feared for his life that day and never saw the squad car’s headlights flashing.
During the trial, prosecutors played jurors a tape of Knight calling his dispatcher during the chase, in which he can be heard saying he put on his flashing lights. That tape, Knight’s brother said after the verdict, showed Scott knew the men chasing him were cops, and it might have convinced jurors about Scott’s guilt.
“I think the most compelling thing was my brother’s last words,” Chuck Knight said. “It’s kind of amazing that a voice from the grave could bury [Scott].”
The eight-woman, four-man jury found Scott guilty of first-degree murder for Knight’s slaying and guilty of attempted first-degree murder of a peace officer for shooting at Butler.
The second conviction could prove important when jurors reconvene to decide whether Scott is eligible for the death penalty. If jurors decide he did not know Knight was an officer when he opened fire, Scott could get a sentence of life in prison.
Scott’s public defenders said they are hopeful he will be found not eligible.
“The fact the jury deliberated for 13 hours shows that someone had a real doubt about whether James knew these were police officers,” said Assistant Public Defender Susan Smith.
Throughout the eight-day trial, Joan Knight and her family sat in the front row of the small courtroom gallery, several feet from Scott’s mother. Police officers filled several rows and at times spilled out into the hall.
As the verdict was read Tuesday, Scott showed almost no emotion, while his mother, Marguerite Benton, began sobbing. After the courtroom cleared, Benton spent several minutes with Scott before he was taken away.
“She’s suffering a lot of pain as a mother would,” said Scott’s stepfather, James Benton. “In our conversations, we were hopeful.”
Outside the courtroom, members of Knight’s family hugged. Many wore necklaces adorned with a police star bearing John Knight’s badge number.
“It’s like a 100-pound weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Chuck Knight said.
His father, former Chicago Police Officer Charles Knight, spoke with tears in his eyes.
“I’m relieved,” he said. “It’s been five years.”