Charges Dismissed Against Ticket Writing Cop

On February 23, 2009 we published a blog about John Haleas, a Chicago police officer charged with perjury, official misconduct and obstructing justice by lying on police reports regarding arrests for DUI cases. Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Obbish ruled that prosecutors improperly used statements given by Haleas to Internal Affairs investigators during an administrative investigation by the Chicago Police Department. There is a Supreme Court case specifically on point which prohibits prosecutors from using statements given in an administrative proceeding in a subsequent criminal proceeding. Haleas had no choice but to give the statements to the investigators in the internal affairs investigation. The prosecutor who had been working on the case testified that he was careful to keep the statements given in the administrative investigation and the criminal investigation separate but this was not able to be verified because the prosecutors office lost the file.

Haleas had been given awards for being the most prolific enforcer of DUI laws when he led the state in the number of arrests. According to prosecutors Haleas failed to perform field sobriety tests and lied in his police reports.

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