Not just lying - lending credence to the theory of a cover-up:
- She’s one of Chicago’s top cops — so highly rated that she was one of three finalists to replace former Supt. Jody Weis.
But Debra Kirby’s account of her actions in the aftermath of disgraced officer Anthony Abbate’s notorious videotaped attack on a bartender was directly contradicted in sworn testimony Tuesday in federal court by another officer and an assistant Cook County State’s attorney.
Lawyers for the beaten bartender, Karolina Obrycka, hope the three wildly differing accounts from Kirby, Sgt. Joseph Stehlik and prosecutor Tom Bilyk about a phone call Kirby testified she made three days after the attack will convince a jury that Kirby is a liar who tried to hush up Abbate’s attack.
Just knowing what we know, and some of our number having been through the wringer, we speculate as follows:
- The prosecutor has no dog in the fight. Anita has been looking to hang coppers for years and her predecessor didn't do us many favors either. To think the States Attorney wouldn't have hung a copper out to dry in a heartbeat is nuts;
- If this was in fact, a heater case as is being portrayed, there is no way a sergeant takes it upon himself to get misdemeanor complaints signed under unless he's part and parcel of any conspiracy. We don't mind sergeants for the most part, but let's not kid anyone - they aren't allowed to make decisions of this sort of import.
- Kirby is throwing everyone she can under the bus in hope that the wheels jam up and save her the brunt of this one.
There is a reason that IAD reports directly to the Superintendent outside of any other chain of command. It's the same reason the Superintendent reports directly to the mayor - political insulation. And if there's a fire, insulation protects the "valuables."
From our e-mail:
- Why isn't anyone asking about how IAD tried to farm out the SOS investigation to the States Attorney and the feds for over almost two years while the crew ran amok? Kirby was in charge then and sat on it.