Four Chicago-area police officers faced a judge Monday, charged with allegedly providing false testimony and lying under oath.
Chicago police Sgt. James Padar, Officer William Pruente, Officer Vince Morgan and Glenview Police Officer James Horn face felony perjury and official misconduct charges after their testimony in a drug case against Joseph Sperling was contradicted by dash cam video obtained by NBC 5 INVESTIGATES.
In the 2014 case, the officers said Sperling got out of his car and walked toward a squad car, telling officers he had a bag of marijuana on the back seat. His case was thrown out after a judge saw the video and told the officers they were lying.
"The message is for all of our witnesses that when we put you under oath, we expect that your testimony is going to be truthful," said Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. "It needs to be truthful because you will be subjecting yourself to perjury charges,"
A judge on Monday set bail for all four men at $10,000. After court, a defense attorney said his client simply mis-stated his testimony.
"All we'll say is that there's a huge difference between a mistaken testimony and perjury, and mistaken testimony happens dozens of times every single day in this building alone," said Dan Herbert, who is representing Horn.
Horn remains on paid leave. The Chicago officers are on desk duty, but police Supt. Garry McCarthy said he's not happy with their behavior.
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"You can't lie to make a good case. It's really that simple. It's one of the most basic forms of integrity that we have. It's very disappointing that there was a supervisor involved with this," he said during a graduation ceremony at Navy Pier for nearly 90 new police officers.
