Overview
- A jury was selected Monday in federal court in Chicago, with opening statements expected Tuesday and the trial projected to last up to two weeks.
- Surveillance and bystander videos show a prolonged struggle at the Grand Red Line station with Tasers and pepper spray used before Officer Melvina Bogard fired two shots that wounded Roman.
- The case focuses on whether officers failed to de-escalate in a crowded transit hub, and Roman is seeking unspecified damages.
- Bogard was acquitted in 2022 of aggravated battery and official misconduct and has since resigned, while COPA urged firing both officers and partner Bernard Butler received a yearlong suspension without pay.
- Initial resisting-arrest charges against Roman were dropped, and the defense argues Bogard acted in self-defense during the struggle as Butler is heard on video shouting, "shoot him."