Jurors find Des Plaines woman guilty of striking Palatine cop
Attorneys for a Des Plaines woman charged with kicking, scratching and pushing Palatine police officers after a DUI arrest last October insisted that the charges against Carmelita Ceja, 34, amounted to a conspiracy by authorities to cover up police brutality.
“They turned the victim into the defendant ... and they want you to go along with it,” said defense attorney Constantine Vass Vassilakopoulous during Thursday's closing arguments.
But the jury returned guilty verdicts late Thursday on two of the three charges against Ceja.
The seven-woman, five-man jury found Ceja guilty of aggravated battery against a police officer and DUI. They acquitted her on a second charge of battery to a police officer.
She faces a sentence of three to seven years in prison. Probation is also available. She next appears in court Nov. 28.
The verdict indicates jurors did not believe Vassilakopoulous' claim that Ceja acted in self-defense when she struggled with officer Joseph Murphy and Sgt. Steve Bratcher in the booking room of the Palatine police station on Oct. 20, 2010, after a traffic stop in the vicinity of Rand Road and Evergreen Drive.
“She feared for her life and what other reasonable person wouldn't?” Vassilakopoulous said, showing jurors photographs of Ceja's bruised leg and blackened eye, which she said occurred after Bratcher slammed her face onto a table and Murphy grabbed her leg.
Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Mike Gerber dismissed Ceja's claims as “nonsensical,” made by a “drunken, belligerent, violent person who had to be restrained” and suffered bruises as a result of officers' attempts to control a woman who was out of control.
Murphy testified that Ceja's bloodshot eyes, slurred speech, unsteady gait and failure to perform field sobriety tests led him to conclude she was intoxicated. At the police station, Ceja became “verbally assaultive and aggressive,” said Murphy, who told jurors that she kicked him in the chest and scratched his face, photographs of which prosecutors introduced into evidence. Jurors found Ceja guilty of striking Murphy but acquitted her on charges that she also struck Bratcher.#8220;They used all the restraint in the world,#8221; said an impassioned Gerber, pointing out that none of the officers used a stun gun or baton on Ceja that night, even though her behavior justified their use.
#8220;This is character assassination against these two officers. Don't let it happen,#8221; said Gerber, who bristled at the defense's attempt to tarnish the reputation of officers who he says have performed #8220;dignified service to our community#8221; over many years with no indication they have ever exhibited violent behavior.