The fight over whether the public will get to hear the details of former Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot's deposition in a wrongful death lawsuit took center stage in the Daley Center courtroom yesterday. Attorneys for the city clashed with those representing the family of 10-year-old Da'Karia Spicer, who lost her life in a 2020 traffic collision that the family claims was caused by an unauthorized police pursuit, according to NBC Chicago.
The attorney for Spicer's estate, Lance Northcutt, argued that the former mayor's words were relevant to their case, especially since Lightfoot openly shared her opinions on the incident the day after it happened, as stated in an interview obtained by NBC Chicago; the city's Law Department insisted the deposition should stay under wraps. The crash that tragically ended Spicer's life occurred when her family's vehicle, on the way to pick up a laptop for remote learning, was hit by a sedan trying to avoid being pulled over, a sedan that the family insists was being chased by police.
Judge Scott McKenna ruled in favor of the Spicer family, ordering the contents of the deposition to be made public. Northcutt expressed outrage at efforts to prevent Lightfoot's words from becoming public record and is planning to call the former mayor to testify at the trial, which begins in November unless prevented by further court rulings, Northcutt told NBC Chicago.
The wrongful death lawsuit put forward by Spicer's family alleges that local authorities violated city policy by not abandoning the pursuit when it posed significant risks, and they seek to demonstrate, as reported by ABC7 Chicago, how the city's behavior, alongside Lightfoot's public comments that discredited the police chase as a cause of the accident, worsened the harm inflicted on the family.
As the legal skirmish garners attention, Lightfoot and the city's attorneys have declined to comment following the city's failed motion to keep the deposition private. The attorney for the Spicer family, meanwhile, continues to demand transparency, asserting that Lightfoot had no obligation to comment publicly on the matter, yet she did so shortly after the incident occurred and therefore her statements should be open to public scrutiny, according to a statement Northcutt gave to ABC7 Chicago.
