Eyewitness Testimony Destroyed

Jefferson Tap trial coverage:

• The testimony of a key witness against a police officer charged with punching a man in the face inside a West Loop bar was undercut today when security video showed the officer outside the bar when the man was struck.

• But Fahey then played footage from a second camera monitoring the exterior of the building that showed Barnes on the sidewalk outside at the moment when Vanderford said she saw him throw the punch. Fahey asked if she was still certain she saw Barnes strike Gilfand.

  Vanderford hesitated before answering.

  "Since no one can be in two places at one time ... I would say it's possible that I'm mistaken," she said.

Mistaken? Lady, you ought to be charged with perjury. And the ASA's prosecuting this disaster of a case ought to be fired by Anita Alvarez for missing this glaringly obvious hole in their case. This is looking more and more like a political persecution and a wholesale overreaction to a simple battery case between two groups at a bar.

No comment from Leo.