In the days before video….

The other night the esteemed Tom Sullivan, former U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois who now is president of the board of Injustice Watch, was discussing the way things have changed. In the old days, noted Tom, lawyers had little to go on when their clients told sharply different accounts from what the police said.

Of course, jurors would be hard pressed to disbelieve the officers, and especially to credit the version of a defendant over the word of the officer.

But now, videos have opened a new world, where seeing is believing. It’s not always pretty.

Again Monday night, a video tells a disturbing story of apparent abuse by Chicago police..