Beaten bartender's suit will feature off-duty cop's beating video at upcoming trial

Editor's note: Both Judges Fleming and Kawamoto were among the several judges who heard the case of Alice R. Gore in the Probate Court of Cook County.  Lucius Verenus, Schoolmaster, ProbateSharks


Beaten bartender's suit will feature off-duty cop's beating video at upcoming trial


Woman attacked by cop alleges police 'code of silence' led to cover-up

By Annie Sweeney, Chicago Tribune reporter



7:06 AM CDT, October 22, 2012



The shocking videotape showed off-duty Chicago police Officer Anthony Abbate throw a female bartender half his size against a wall in the Northwest Side tavern, slam her to the floor and pummel her with frenzied punches and kicks.



Weeks later, fearful for the bartender's safety and that police had downplayed the seriousness of the beating, her lawyers released the video, sparking international outrage and one of the most embarrassing incidents in the Police Department's history.



Now, almost six years later, bartender Karolina Obrycka's lawsuit against Abbate and the city of Chicago is set to go to trial on Monday in federal court. While the videotaped beating remains the emotional center of the case, the trial will turn on whether Abbate, Beaten bartender's suit will feature off-duty cop's beating video at upcoming trial







Obrycka's lawyers will attempt to put the so-called code of silence among cops on trial, a review of court records shows.



A spokesman for the city's Law Department declined to discuss the case, but at a court hearing last week, attorney Matthew Hurd, representing the city at the trial, made it clear there will be no last-minute settlement despite the potential millions of dollars in damages at stake.



"This case is a matter of principle," said Hurd, explaining later that the city won't settle lawsuits by paying damages on behalf of officers involved in altercations while off-duty.



Details of the beating won't likely be in dispute at the trial, but the clash will still be a key part of the evidence. Jurors are expected to view the video and hear from both Obrycka and Abbate, who was found guilty for the beating, on what happened at Jesse's Short Stop Inn on Feb. 19, 2007, and in the hours and days afterward.



By witness accounts, Abbate consumed large quantities of alcohol during two separate visits to the bar that day. He first left the bar about 3 p.m. after he started a fight with another patron and a different bartender cut him off from more alcohol, according to court records. Obrycka was working behind the bar for a couple of hours before Abbate returned about 8 p.m. Over the next hour and a half, he drank mixed drinks and shots of brandy, the records indicate.



Earlier, the video showed an agitated Abbate punching one friend and tossing another to the floor in apparent anger over a remark made about his dog. He is seen shouting "Chicago Police Department" over and over again as he flexed his biceps. At one point, he sang "Sweet Caroline" to Obrycka as the juke box played.



At about 9:30 p.m., after Obrycka refused to serve him more alcohol, Abbate went behind the bar. A determined Obrycka tried to fight back, but at 6 feet 1 inches and 250 pounds, Abbate towered over her. He slammed her into a wall, tossed her to the floor and punched and kicked her repeatedly, telling her "nobody tells me what to do," court records allege.



When Abbate left, Obrycka immediately called 911, touching off what her lawyers contend was a cover-up by police concerned over one of their own.



Two veteran Grand Central District patrol officers responded and learned from Obrycka that her attacker was a Chicago police officer and that the entire incident was captured by surveillance cameras. However, the officers didn't mention either detail in their report, according to the court records.



Obrycka's lawyers said that another bartender, Patti Chiriboga, a friend of Abbate's, warned the officer's girlfriend the day of the beating about the damaging nature of the videotape. Abbate and his police partner made some 150 phone calls to other officers and detectives in the hours after the beating, according to court records.



That same evening, Gary Ortiz, another Abbate friend and city employee, went to the bar to ask Obrycka not to press charges, according to the lawsuit. Ortiz relayed that Abbate had offered to pay for Obrycka's medical bills and time off work if she did not complain to the department or file a lawsuit, her lawyers contend. Obrycka declined the offer. According to court records, the city has conceded that Ortiz's action was an attempted bribe.



Obrycka's lawyers also contend that Chiriboga, after meeting with Abbate, warned of problems for the bar and its employees if the videotape didn't disappear.



In a conversation secretly tape-recorded by the bar's owner, Martin Kolodziej, Chiriboga allegedly explained how a desperate Abbate had angrily threatened her to help conceal the beating, even making a veiled reference about her brother at one point.



"He goes, 'Believe me what I tell you.' He said, 'Your life, everybody in the (expletive) bar — this is, this is — I'm backed against the wall,'" a transcript quoted Chiriboga as saying. "'I don't give a (expletive). I did, I did that to Karolina,' he said, 'but I want the tape. I want the (expletive) tape.'



"He calls me — he tells me, 'Do you love your brother?'"



In the same conversation, Chiriboga told Kolodziej that Abbate threatened to falsify charges or plant evidence if necessary.



"You tell Martin to get rid of that tape or there's gonna be people getting DUIs," she quoted Abbate as telling her, according to the transcript. "You might be driving with a pound of (expletive) cocaine on you."



Three days after the beating, officers interviewed Obrycka and handed her a typed complaint form for a misdemeanor battery, her lawyers said.



According to Obrycka's lawyers, Chiriboga lied when she told the Office of Professional Standards, the agency then responsible for investigating police misconduct, that Abbate never made those threats.



The lawyers alleged that the conspiracy to cover up the extent of the beating stretched high into the department.



According to the lawsuit, OPS investigators did not follow up on the allegations of bribery and intimidation, didn't conduct a meaningful interview of Abbate or recommend his suspension, and submitted incomplete evidence to the Cook County state's attorney's office.



"The OPS investigators set about a concerted and deliberate effort to minimize and conceal from public scrutiny the details and facts of the case," the lawsuit said.



In addition, an assistant deputy superintendent in charge of the Internal Affairs Division soft-pedaled Abbate's wrongdoing in a call to the deputy chief of the state's attorney's professional standards unit, calling it a misdemeanor battery, according to Obrycka's lawyers.



It wasn't until March 14 that Abbate was charged — with misdemeanor battery.



A few days later, Obrycka's lawyers released the videotape to the news media. In their lawsuit, they said they took that step because of the Police Department's inaction and out of concern for Obrycka's safety.



The tape of the beating went viral, causing a firestorm of criticism that ultimately contributed to the sudden retirement of then-Police Superintendent Philip Cline and the overhaul of how allegations of wrongdoing by officers are investigated.



Within days, prosecutors upgraded the charges against Abbate to felonies.



In 2009 Abbate was convicted in a bench trial after his attorney tried to portray Obrycka as the aggressor. At sentencing, prosecutors sought prison time, saying it was "by the grace of God" that Obrycka "wasn't hurt or worse."



But in a controversial decision, Circuit Judge John Fleming spared Abbate from prison, sentencing him to two years of probation. Abbate was later fired by the Chicago Police Board.



asweeney@tribune.com

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-abbate-bar-beating-trial-20121022,0,5548766.story?page=2

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