Legal Ethics

Police Bribed Judge to Get Search Warrant, Ex-Chicago Cop Testifies

By Martha Neil

Nov 20, 2008, 03:49 pm CST

Testifying for the government yesterday in a federal corruption trial against his former partner, an ex-Chicago police officer said cops routinely participated in a number of illegal acts.

Among them: allegedly bribing an unnamed judge to issue a bogus search warrant, after the judge "asked for it," testified ex-cop Richard Doroniuk, 32, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Attorney Anthony Pinelli, who represents the defendant, asked Doroniuk on cross-examination how many individuals might have been wrongfully convicted as a result of alleged police misdeeds, including planting drugs on suspects and testifying falsely in court.

Replied Doroniuk: "I don't know. I never followed the cases."