By Jason Straziuso, The Associated Press
CHICAGO (AP) -- A man convicted of killing a Chicago police officer avoided a death sentence by admitting he had known the victim was a policeman and agreeing not to appeal his conviction.
The deal came as the jury that convicted James Scott of officer John Knight’s January 1999 slaying was preparing to consider whether Scott should be executed.
Scott, 28, was sentenced Wednesday by Judge Clayton Crane to two life terms with no chance for parole, one for Knight’s murder and another after Scott also pleaded guilty as part of the deal to the 1998 slaying of Lorenzo Aldridge, 26, of Chicago Heights.
Scott told jurors during the two-week trial he thought he was being chased by thugs who intended to carjack him when he shot Knight, 38, through the windshield of his unmarked squad car.
Defense lawyers said they proposed the arrangement after Scott’s conviction Tuesday in a bid to spare him the death penalty. Prosecutors agreed to it after getting the approval of Knight’s family members, his former partner and police officials.
In court Wednesday, Knight’s widow, Joan Knight, read a statement blaming Scott for depriving her three children of their father.
“Because of James Scott, every year my children take their new school pictures and tape them to their father’s grave instead of having them proudly displayed in his wallet,” she said.
Knight’s father, Charles, said the family agreed to the plea deal and sentence on the condition that Scott tell the court he knew he was shooting a police officer and that it wasn’t done in self-defense.
“That’s what we insisted upon -- no chance for appeals and those admissions,” Charles Knight said after the hearing. “This is the first step toward recovery.”