The usual suspects showed up, but Howard Morgan will probably still die exactly where he belongs - in prison:
After they’d filled every last seat in the courtroom, they squeezed into the aisles, some sitting on the floor, blue-shirted police officers and Occupy Chicago protesters and bow-tied members of the Nation of Islam.
All the doors of Judge Clayton Crane’s room were thrown open so every last supporter of a black railroad police officer shot by Chicago Police in 2005 — and of the four white officers he’s been convicted of trying to kill — also could bear witness in the hallways.
The judge did not believe Morgan’s account.
“I have no idea what possessed your actions that night,” he told Morgan.
The room’s silence held. Crane then delivered his sentence: 40 years.
Amusingly, Mope-rah catches Jesse Jackson in a blatant lie. We're sure it was unintentional. What Mope-rah published Monday morning:
- "We intend to go to court with him on April 5th, and a number of our people intend to be in the courtroom,” [Jackson] said.
What actually occurred in court Thursday:
- He has no other criminal history, [defense attorney] Stone said, quoting from a letter written by the Rev. Jesse Jackson asking Crane to “temper justice with mercy.”
Even Jesse knew this one sucked so badly for the defense he didn't even want to be in town when the sentencing came down and he lied to Mopey.