Guilty verdict in taxi slaying
Guilty verdict in taxi slaying
Ex-city aide convicted of 2nd-degree murder
By Carlos Sadovi
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 22, 2006
A former city of Chicago employee was found guilty of second-degree murder Monday in the 2005 killing of a cabdriver that stemmed from a fight over a fare.
But jurors acquitted Michael Jackson, 38, of the more serious charges of first-degree murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking. Both Cook County prosecutors and defense lawyers claimed victory.
Jackson, a former Chicago Department of Public Health employee, was on trial for the Feb. 4, 2005, death of cabdriver Haroon Paryani, 62. Jackson repeatedly struck Paryani with his own cab at West Briar Place and Cambridge Avenue.
"We have a 62-year-old cabdriver who's dead, and we have an ... individual who is going to jail possibly for a long time," said Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Mercedes Luque-Rosales. "In terms of justice, the jury found that on Feb. 4 Michael Jackson murdered Haroon Paryani."
Jackson could have faced a natural-life sentence if he had been convicted of first-degree murder and the aggravated hijacking charges.
At his Sept. 19 sentencing date, Jackson could receive as little as probation and as many as 20 years in prison, prosecutors said. With day-for-day good-time credit, he might serve only about 10 years, prosecutors said.
Jurors declined to comment on the verdict. They began deliberating on Friday and resumed Monday. Deliberations scheduled for Saturday were halted after a juror became ill.
After the verdict was announced, Paryani's son, Amir Paryani, who is deaf and spoke in sign language through an interpreter, thanked prosecutors and the jury and Cook County Criminal Court Judge James Schreier for their work.
"I know that my father is at peace," Paryani said.
Paryani's widow, Sharifa, who testified during the four-day trial, also thanked the jury and prosecutors.
"The jury did good job for my husband," she said, holding back tears.
As the verdict was read in court, neither Jackson nor his friends and family showed any emotion.
During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Jackson as a cold-blooded killer who ran over Paryani's body three times with the man's Ford Crown Victoria cab. More than eight witnesses testified that they saw the two men tussling on the street around midnight.
They said that at one point Paryani fell face-forward on the street. Jackson walked back to the man's car, got behind the wheel and drove over his body three times, according to at least eight witnesses.
Jackson took the stand in his own defense and said that Paryani had attacked him after he questioned the roughly $8 fare on the meter. He said the man had overcharged him by about $4 and became belligerent when he questioned him.
Jackson said Paryani threatened to kill him and tried to keep him inside the cab. He said he got into the car and drove away to flee Paryani.
Tom Breen, Jackson's defense lawyer, called Jackson's acquittal on the more serious charges a victory.
"Our position from the beginning was that at no time did our client, Mike, ever intend to hijack the car and to kill someone as a result of that hijacking," Breen said. "The cabdriver was an aggressor against Mike. Mike attempted to flee the scene; the only way he could was by the use of the cab."
Jackson's family, including his partner, who walked out of the courthouse carrying the blue suit Jackson wore during his trial, refused to comment to reporters.
Jackson, who was being held without bail, was ordered held by SchreierI think he was hoping that he would be acquitted based on self-defense," Breen said of his client. "Right now, he's still stunned by everything. He wishes obviously he had received a better result. He also knows that as originally charged, it's a significant victory for him."
During the trial, Jackson's lawyers said Paryani was a "mean, violent" man who had assaulted another patron.
Stephan Argent of Toronto testified that when he lived in Chicago in 2001, he had an altercation with Paryani over the man's use of profanity and after he questioned the route Paryani was taking.
He said that when he got out of the cab, Paryani grabbed him and held him until police summoned by Argent arrived. Argent later wrote a letter to the city complaining about the cabbie.
Jackson was a policy and communications specialist at the Public Health Department's sexually transmitted disease/HIV/AIDS division. He was fired by the city after his arrest last year.
In 1992, he established the Hearts Foundation, a non-profit organization that describes itself as supporting Chicago's gay and lesbian community.
Breen said he was hopeful that Schreier would consider Jackson's work with the community.
"He has a history of 10 or 15 years of philanthropic activity in the community," said Breen.
But Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Lawrence X. O'Reilly said the community is safer with Jackson behind bars.
"I'm just grateful that it brings relief and closure to the Paryani family and that the people of the tranquil Lakeview neighborhood can go about their life in peace," O'Reilly said. "This case was about a man who horrifically and brutally ran over another man three times."
Jackson, who is HIV positive, was charged in April 2005 in DuPage County with reckless assault for allegedly spitting on a nurse at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.
At the time, Jackson was free on $750,000 bail in the murder charge. He has also been charged with reckless conduct for allegedly having sexual contact with inmates in the DuPage County Jail without disclosing that he is HIV positive.
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csadovi@tribune.com
Ex-city aide convicted of 2nd-degree murder
By Carlos Sadovi
Copyright © 2006, Chicago Tribune
Published August 22, 2006
A former city of Chicago employee was found guilty of second-degree murder Monday in the 2005 killing of a cabdriver that stemmed from a fight over a fare.
But jurors acquitted Michael Jackson, 38, of the more serious charges of first-degree murder and aggravated vehicular hijacking. Both Cook County prosecutors and defense lawyers claimed victory.
Jackson, a former Chicago Department of Public Health employee, was on trial for the Feb. 4, 2005, death of cabdriver Haroon Paryani, 62. Jackson repeatedly struck Paryani with his own cab at West Briar Place and Cambridge Avenue.
"We have a 62-year-old cabdriver who's dead, and we have an ... individual who is going to jail possibly for a long time," said Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Mercedes Luque-Rosales. "In terms of justice, the jury found that on Feb. 4 Michael Jackson murdered Haroon Paryani."
Jackson could have faced a natural-life sentence if he had been convicted of first-degree murder and the aggravated hijacking charges.
At his Sept. 19 sentencing date, Jackson could receive as little as probation and as many as 20 years in prison, prosecutors said. With day-for-day good-time credit, he might serve only about 10 years, prosecutors said.
Jurors declined to comment on the verdict. They began deliberating on Friday and resumed Monday. Deliberations scheduled for Saturday were halted after a juror became ill.
After the verdict was announced, Paryani's son, Amir Paryani, who is deaf and spoke in sign language through an interpreter, thanked prosecutors and the jury and Cook County Criminal Court Judge James Schreier for their work.
"I know that my father is at peace," Paryani said.
Paryani's widow, Sharifa, who testified during the four-day trial, also thanked the jury and prosecutors.
"The jury did good job for my husband," she said, holding back tears.
As the verdict was read in court, neither Jackson nor his friends and family showed any emotion.
During the trial, prosecutors portrayed Jackson as a cold-blooded killer who ran over Paryani's body three times with the man's Ford Crown Victoria cab. More than eight witnesses testified that they saw the two men tussling on the street around midnight.
They said that at one point Paryani fell face-forward on the street. Jackson walked back to the man's car, got behind the wheel and drove over his body three times, according to at least eight witnesses.
Jackson took the stand in his own defense and said that Paryani had attacked him after he questioned the roughly $8 fare on the meter. He said the man had overcharged him by about $4 and became belligerent when he questioned him.
Jackson said Paryani threatened to kill him and tried to keep him inside the cab. He said he got into the car and drove away to flee Paryani.
Tom Breen, Jackson's defense lawyer, called Jackson's acquittal on the more serious charges a victory.
"Our position from the beginning was that at no time did our client, Mike, ever intend to hijack the car and to kill someone as a result of that hijacking," Breen said. "The cabdriver was an aggressor against Mike. Mike attempted to flee the scene; the only way he could was by the use of the cab."
Jackson's family, including his partner, who walked out of the courthouse carrying the blue suit Jackson wore during his trial, refused to comment to reporters.
Jackson, who was being held without bail, was ordered held by SchreierI think he was hoping that he would be acquitted based on self-defense," Breen said of his client. "Right now, he's still stunned by everything. He wishes obviously he had received a better result. He also knows that as originally charged, it's a significant victory for him."
During the trial, Jackson's lawyers said Paryani was a "mean, violent" man who had assaulted another patron.
Stephan Argent of Toronto testified that when he lived in Chicago in 2001, he had an altercation with Paryani over the man's use of profanity and after he questioned the route Paryani was taking.
He said that when he got out of the cab, Paryani grabbed him and held him until police summoned by Argent arrived. Argent later wrote a letter to the city complaining about the cabbie.
Jackson was a policy and communications specialist at the Public Health Department's sexually transmitted disease/HIV/AIDS division. He was fired by the city after his arrest last year.
In 1992, he established the Hearts Foundation, a non-profit organization that describes itself as supporting Chicago's gay and lesbian community.
Breen said he was hopeful that Schreier would consider Jackson's work with the community.
"He has a history of 10 or 15 years of philanthropic activity in the community," said Breen.
But Cook County Assistant State's Atty. Lawrence X. O'Reilly said the community is safer with Jackson behind bars.
"I'm just grateful that it brings relief and closure to the Paryani family and that the people of the tranquil Lakeview neighborhood can go about their life in peace," O'Reilly said. "This case was about a man who horrifically and brutally ran over another man three times."
Jackson, who is HIV positive, was charged in April 2005 in DuPage County with reckless assault for allegedly spitting on a nurse at Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove.
At the time, Jackson was free on $750,000 bail in the murder charge. He has also been charged with reckless conduct for allegedly having sexual contact with inmates in the DuPage County Jail without disclosing that he is HIV positive.
----------
csadovi@tribune.com
posted by Carlos T Mock at 8:04 AM
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