Though protesters are angry about waiting for a Chicago police officer to stand trial for murder in the 2014 shooting death of black teenager Laquan McDonald, the judge said the case "will go to trial when it's fair."
On Thursday, as protesters gathered outside the Chicago courthouse, Cook County Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan said the case has generated thousands of pages of documents and emails and that various issues must be decided before Jason Van Dyke can stand trial.
"This is a complicated case, and it's not going to be resolved in a rush," the judge, obviously upset, said. "We are going to take the time that is appropriate for everybody, and we are not going to be delaying things either."
As of Thursday, the judge said, there were 23 different entities involved and approximately 40 attorneys.
"This is not going to be run by the public saying, 'We have to do this,” or representatives or minor representatives of the public saying it has to go to trial," he said. "It will go to trial when it's fair."
One issue yet to be decided is whether the trial will be held in Chicago.
Van Dyke's attorneys want a change of venue because they say the extensive media attention and comments made by Mayor Rahm Emanuel about the case have made a fair trial in in the city impossible.
