LENGTH: 338 words

HEADLINE: Man held mistakenly is dropped as suspect

BYLINE: By Eric Ferkenhoff, Tribune staff reporter.

BODY:

A man who was locked up for 29 days before murder charges against him were dropped is no longer considered a suspect in that slaying, according to police who have acknowledged for the first time that the man's picture was mistakenly picked out of a photo lineup.

The announcement Friday by Chief of Detectives Phil Cline, comes two weeks after Nicholas Mobley was released from Cook County Jail, where he had spent nearly a month on charges of first degree murder for the April 13 shooting death of Shakir Beckley.

"Our investigation at this time is we feel that Mr. Mobley was not involved in this case," Cline said.

Instead, police said they now believe Mobley, 23, was mistaken for another man, whom police are seeking for questioning, Cline said.

"This is a person who looks like Mr. Mobley," Cline said. "He has an association with the people who have been charged, and our investigation is still continuing." Three other people have been charged in the murder.

Prosecutors have said four men approached Beckley and two others in a parked truck and demanded money and cell phones.

Beckley, 23, was shot in the head, and Vernard Davis, 21, was wounded in the abdomen, police said.

In the days after Beckley's murder, Mobley's mug shot was randomly picked out to use alongside photos of possible suspects in Beckley's death.

"Witnesses identified him, his picture," Cline said. "He was later placed in a lineup, and five individuals identified him as the person they saw out there with a rifle that night."

"The state's attorneys and the detectives were faced with five people identifying him, and [Mobley] not giving us an alibi," Cline said.

"And that's why he was charged."

In an interview Friday, Mobley said he was held for two days before detectives interviewed him, and that investigators told him they weren't interested in hearing his story if he was going to claim he wasn't at the scene of the shooting.

Mobley filed a federal lawsuit last month, alleging detectives conspired to frame him.

LOAD-DATE: June 9, 2002
 
 

LENGTH: 154 words

HEADLINE: Killing suspect sues, alleges fake lineup

DATELINE: CHICAGO

BODY:

A man whose murder charges were dropped by prosecutors after he spent a month in jail filed a federal civil rights suit Thursday against the city, three detectives who worked the case and a police commander.

Nicholas Mobley alleges detectives conspired to frame him for the April 13 slaying of Shakir Beckley by staging a "corrupt" lineup that led witnesses to identify Mobley as the shooter.

According to the suit, Calumet Area Detectives John Fassl, Michael Baker and Alejandro Almazan, along with their commander, Walter Green, "acted in concert to pervert, influence and corrupt the lineup . . . to unlawfully establish probable cause."

Mobley, 23, was released from Cook County Jail last Friday after prosecutors said they developed evidence that pointed away from him.

Police officials said a review of the case showed the officers acted properly, saying five witnesses identified Mobley as the shooter.

LOAD-DATE: May 31, 2002
 
 

LENGTH: 532 words

HEADLINE: Police framed nephew, retired officer alleges

BYLINE: Annie Sweeney

HIGHLIGHT:

Former commander claims cops built bogus murder case

BODY:

A former Chicago police commander and 26-year member of the department said he believes detectives built a bogus case against his nephew, Nicholas Mobley, who was charged with murder last month only to have the charges dropped last Friday.

"Based on certain information, including documented information, it indicates there are just blatant lies in the detective reports," said Ronald Evans, who retired in 1999 as the commander of the Area 2 detective division, the same area investigating Mobley. "If there was any credible information indicating that Nicholas was guilty, my position would be he would have to be held accountable. On the other hand, where the information is falsified and misleading and incomplete, I feel just as compelled to take the attitude that justice should prevail."

Chief of Detectives Phil Cline said Tuesday that an internal investigation already under way will include a review of all the work done on the investigation into the April 13 murder of Shakir Beckley on the South Side. Mobley, 23, was charged April 25 with the murder and spent about a month in jail until Friday, when the Cook County state's attorney's office announced that charges had been dropped.

Chicago police already have announced that there is a internal investigation into whether Mobley's cousin, Chicago police Sgt. Regina Evans, interfered with the investigation. Cline said the entire investigation will be reviewed as part of that inquiry, although there is no indication now that detectives did anything improper.

"If we had let him out of the station that night, we'd have been remiss in our duties," Cline said.

Cline also addressed the fact that Mobley was identified by witnesses after his picture was pulled from what police call a "filler box"--an assortment of police mug shots to complete a photo lineup.

"It's rare, but it happens," Cline said, adding that he had assurances from the state's attorney's office that there was nothing improper about the identification process.

Further, allegations that Mobley was put in an actual lineup with people who looked nothing like him are not true, Cline said. He said the night Mobley was charged, five people identified him in the actual lineup as the person who had the weapon, and at the time he refused to provide an alibi.

Since then, Mobley has provided an alibi that covers the night of the murder, except for one hour. Also, a fourth person who witnesses have said was at the shooting turns out to resemble Mobley, Cline said.

"Because another offender resembles him, the state's attorney decided to drop charges at this time, while our investigation continues," Cline said.

Ronald Evans said the fact that Mobley's picture was a "filler" photo casts doubts on the case.

"In my entire career, I have never known where a person from a filler was actually identified and charged," said Evans.

Evans is also angered that Regina Evans, his daughter-in-law, is the main focus of the internal investigation.

"That might end up being the most egregious offense that there is," Evans said. "She simply sought what was right. I know for a fact she didn't violate any department rules or laws."

LOAD-DATE: June 10, 2002
 
 

LENGTH: 403 words

HEADLINE: 'I feel the joy,' says man freed from jail

BYLINE: Janet Rausa Fuller

HIGHLIGHT:

Charges against him dropped, but police probe targets cousin

BODY:

Nicholas Mobley was where his family said he belongs Sunday--in church, not behind bars at Cook County Jail.

"I feel the joy," said Mobley, after addressing the congregation at Sweet Holy Spirit Church on the South Side. "I'm pleased to see someone is concerned about the injustice that has occurred within the detective division of the Police Department."

Mobley, 23, was released from jail Friday after prosecutors dropped murder charges against him in the gang shooting of 23-year-old Shakir Beckley in the 1400 block of East 89th Street.

Now Mobley and his cousin, police Sgt. Regina Evans, want an apology from the Chicago Police Department for what Evans called an "irresponsible" investigation into the April 13 shooting.

Mobley, of the 9200 block of South Dauphin, was arrested and charged April 25 after witnesses identified him from photos and a lineup.

Evans, a 16-year police veteran, cried foul after she said she talked to detectives handling the case.

"There were people within the department telling me things about the investigation that weren't right," Evans said.

She also talked to Mobley and believed he was innocent. "He doesn't go around doing what gang-bangers do. He's married with five children," she said.

Evans said she filed a five-page report with the deputy superintendent of the detective division three weeks ago, alleging that Mobley had been railroaded by police.

"Even if he was picked out, detectives have an obligation to do more work. A lineup doesn't end an investigation," said Evans, herself a former Area 2 detective.

Police spokesman David Bayless defended the department's conduct Sunday.

"We did a thorough investigation, presented those facts to the state's attorney's office and they approved charges," he said. "They have since changed their mind on it, but that doesn't change the fact that we did a thorough and objective investigation."

Lance Edwards, 20, of the 1600 block of East 87th Place, remains in custody. He was arrested with Mobley. Evans is the subject of an internal probe "to explore her role in this investigation," Bayless said.

Mobley is not in the clear yet, he said. "Until this case is clear and closed, no one is eliminated."

Evans says she is ready to take the heat of the internal probe. "Whatever they want from me, I'm there," she said. "I'm going to have some problems, but I'm going to stand tall."

LOAD-DATE: June 10, 2002
 
 

LENGTH: 701 words

HEADLINE: Murder charges dropped;

Man freed in gang killing after questions about police lineup

BYLINE: Carlos Sadovi

BODY:

Cook County prosecutors dropped murder charges Friday against a Chicago man charged in the April 13 gang shooting of a South Side man amid questions about how the investigation was conducted, but police and prosecutors say privately they still suspect they had the right man.

Even as Nicholas Mobley, 23, of the 9200 block of South Dauphin, walked out of the Cook County Jail after being locked up for about a month, Chicago police said they are investigating the conduct of his cousin, Sgt. Regina Evans, a 16-year police veteran who alleged that Mobley was railroaded by police.

"I feel wonderful," Mobley said late Friday. "I'm happy to get out. I just want to offer condolences to Mr. Beckley's family. And I'm happy that I have a family that supports me."

Mobley was arrested along with Lance Edwards, 20, of the 1600 block of East 87th Place, who remains in custody for the shooting of Shakir Beckley, 23, on the street in the 1400 block of East 89th Street.

Edwards allegedly was one of four men who approached Beckley and two others in a parked truck. The four demanded money and cellular phones from the victims. Vernard Davis, 21, was shot in the abdomen with a rifle but survived. Beckley was killed after being shot in the head, prosecutors said.

In addition to dropping the first-degree murder charges, prosecutors dropped charges of armed robbery and attempted murder against Mobley.

Mobley's wife, Breshon Mobley, who was waiting outside the jail Friday afternoon, said she worries about retribution from police but that she and their children were eager to be reunited with Mobley.

"I am so happy," Breshon Mobley said. "But I'm nervous because it's like saying they did something wrong."

Sources have told the Chicago Sun-Times that internal allegations were made that police detectives working on the case did not suspect Mobley in the shooting and that Mobley's picture was pulled from what police call a "filler box"--an assortment of police mug shots used to complete a lineup. The lineup included photos of two known suspects and three photos from the filler box. Sources say witnesses picked Mobley out from the photo lineup and again in an actual lineup.

Mobley's mug shot was the only light-skinned photo used, sources said. He also hadn't worn his hair in braids, as he had in the picture, for more than a year. Witnesses said that was the style the shooter wore, according to relatives.

Police obtained his mug shot when he was arrested in the past for possession of marijuana and for two domestic violence incidents. He was on probation and going through mandated counseling at the time of his arrest.

Mobley was arrested and charged April 25. "As part of a continuing investigation and efforts to find the remaining suspects, information was developed in recent days that pointed away from Mobley," prosecutors said in a written statement Friday.

A prosecution source said Mobley was released because of the political and media scrutiny after Sun-Times columnist Mary Mitchell reported on the case May 12. The fact that he was picked out of a lineup by witnesses and in the photo array told investigators they had a good case, the source said.

"You have people questioning how strong the case was; they were caving in to media and political pressure, and they didn't want to deal with the bad press," the source said.

Police officials said they still believe Mobley is involved. Rather than investigate the detectives, they are investigating whether Evans violated department rules by interfering in a homicide investigation, said police spokesman David Bayless.

"There is nothing to indicate misconduct on the part of the detectives handling this case, none whatsoever," Bayless said. "Mobley has not been cleared of this homicide, and our investigation continues."

Evans, who said she did not know she was the subject of an internal investigation, said the department should commend her for rooting out what she called a faulty investigation.

"I'm outraged," Evans said. "If they want to penalize me for trying to save the life of an innocent man, then penalize me. How do you punish the truth? They should apologize to my family."

GRAPHIC: Nicholas Mobley, Cousin's role probed

LOAD-DATE: June 5, 2002
 
 

LENGTH: 690 words

HEADLINE: Killing suspect free after month in jail;

State drops case; relatives allege police misconduct

BYLINE: By Maurice Possley and Eric Ferkenhoff, Tribune staff reporters.

BODY:

A month after Nicholas Mobley was jailed on murder and armed robbery charges arising from a shooting on the South Side, prosecutors dropped the case on Friday, saying evidence "pointed away" from him.

At the same time, Chicago police said they had begun an internal investigation of a police sergeant related to Mobley who had said Mobley, 23, was wrongly accused because detectives had improperly handled the investigation.

Chicago police say a review of the investigation shows the detectives responsible for Mobley's arrest handled the case properly. And even though prosecutors dropped the case, some police officials insist that five witnesses identified Mobley as the man who held a rifle the night of the shootings. He is still considered a suspect, they said.

Mobley's relatives said they filed a complaint with the Police Department's internal affairs division, alleging misconduct by detectives. Police say the detectives are not under investigation.

"Police still believe that the evidence we brought was valid evidence, and based on that evidence, charges were approved," said police spokesman Sgt. Robert Cargie.

But Cook County State's Atty. Richard Devine, in a statement released Friday afternoon, said "information was developed in recent days that pointed away from Mobley."

Barbara Klein, Mobley's attorney, said her client had passed a lie detector test administered by police earlier this week and provided alibi witnesses as well as telephone records that showed he was at home on April 13 when Shakir Beckley, 23, was gunned down in the 1400 block of East 89th Street.

Mobley, of the 9200 block of South Dauphin Avenue, turned himself in to Calumet Area detectives on April 25 after learning from his cousins, both police sergeants, that he was wanted for questioning about the shooting, which also left one man injured. Klein said detectives told Mobley he had been identified in a photo lineup by witnesses to the shooting.

Prosecutors said four men had approached Beckley and two others in a truck parked on the street and demanded money and cell phones. Beckley was shot in the head and Vernard Davis, 21, was wounded in the abdomen, police said.

After Mobley surrendered, he was placed in a lineup and identified by the witnesses as the man who fired the shots, Klein said. A prosecutor in the Cook County state's attorney's office approved a charge of murder and Mobley was jailed.

That day, Lance Edwards, 20, of the 1600 block of East 87th Place, also was charged with murder in the case.

Members of Mobley's family, including the police officers, said their investigation showed that the initial group of photographs shown to the witnesses contained Mobley's picture only because police needed "filler" photos to go along with a photo of a known suspect.

They said the photo of Mobley showed him wearing braided hair, even though he has not worn braids in at least a year. Further, they say that Mobley was the only light-skinned black man in the photo array.

Mobley said he also was the only light-skinned black man in the physical lineups, and some other men were twice his age. "In several of the lineups I was in, there was no other person resembling me," Mobley said.

Relatives said detectives knew the identification of Mobley from the photo lineup was a mistake, but they pursued charges anyway.

Klein said that the witnesses told police the gunman was a man whose nickname is "TV," and that after Mobley was identified, detectives began canvassing neighbors and relatives in an unsuccessful attempt to find someone who would say that "TV" is Mobley's nickname.

"We offered to do a polygraph and he passed on everything," Klein said. "We provided names and phone numbers of [alibi witnesses] and phone records showing he made calls from the house at the time of the shooting. All these things should have been done before he was charged and thrown in Cook County Jail for a month. They had so little evidence."

Klein added, "This has also damaged the state's ability to charge the real killer in this case--their eyewitnesses are on record as identifying the wrong person."

GRAPHIC: PHOTOPHOTO: Freed inmate Nicholas Mobley (center) hugs his father, Herbert, after leaving Cook County Jail with his wife, Breshon. Mobley's relatives say police improperly handled the murder probe. Tribune photo by Alex Garcia.

LOAD-DATE: May 25, 2002
 
 

LENGTH: 812 words

HEADLINE: Could man be railroaded by cops' box of photos?

BYLINE: Mary Mitchell

BODY:

After three frantic phone calls to 911, it took 17 minutes for Chicago police to respond to a domestic violence victim's pleas for help.

It should have taken no more than five, according to a police official who spoke to Fran Spielman, the Chicago Sun-Times City Hall reporter.

"Somebody screwed up," the source said.

But because someone obviously erred, Ronyale White was murdered in her home. Louis Drexel, White's estranged husband, has been charged with first-degree murder. Now those conducting an internal investigation have to sort out who screwed up.

That won't be easy.

There is, after all, still a code of silence among police officers. Breaking that code is easier when the mayor is hopping mad. Because White was a domestic violence victim, city officials also are embarrassed. Both the mayor and Cook County State's Attorney Dick Devine had promised advocates for domestic violence victims a beefed-up system for handling domestic violence.

But there is another allegation of a police screw-up that is being downplayed. There are rumblings within the police department that detectives working on a murder case took some questionable shortcuts.

After Shakir Beckley, 23, was gunned down on the South Side several weeks ago in what police contend was a gang-related shooting (although Beckley's parents maintain their son was not a gang member), police rounded up likely suspects.

Lance Edwards, 20, was charged with first-degree murder. Another man, Nicholas Mobley, 23, also was charged, and Mobley's relatives contend he's being railroaded.

"We are very concerned and we just want justice to be served," said Sgt. Regina Evans, a 16-year police veteran and Mobley's cousin.

Internal allegations have been made that police detectives working this case weren't truthful about how they chose Mobley for a lineup. There is enough concern for the Cook County state's attorney's office to investigate, a spokesman for that office has confirmed.

Mobley had been arrested in the past for possession of marijuana and for two domestic violence incidents. He was on probation and going through mandated counseling at the time of his latest arrest. But he wasn't a gun-toting gang-banger, his wife said.

"I know for a fact where my husband was on April 13 when this was supposed to have taken place," Breshon Mobley told me. "He was at home with the kids. He should be able to come home to be with his family because he is innocent. He's not a gang member and has never been a gang member."

From all accounts, Mobley did seem to be pulling it together. The couple were preparing to leave for an anniversary get-away when Mobley was arrested.

Apparently, a photograph of Mobley--a light-skinned black man--was pulled from what police call a "filler box," an assortment of police mug shots used to complete a lineup. The lineup included photos of two known suspects in the case, and three photos from the filler box. Sources allege that witnesses picked Mobley out from the photo lineup, and again in an actual lineup. From there, Mobley was arrested.

His relatives were stunned. It was his cousin, a police officer, who told Mobley to turn himself into Area 2 headquarters to clear things up. Obviously, these relatives wanted to know how Mobley ended up being charged with first-degree murder.

They were just as stunned to hear that Mobley's photo was randomly pulled from a box of miscellaneous photographs.

Here is the problem: Apparently, Mobley's photograph was the only light-skinned photograph used, according to sources. And, he hadn't worn his hair in braids--as he did in the picture--for more than a year. Witnesses said that was the style the shooter wore, according to his relatives.

Allegedly, detectives working on the case falsely claimed they had connected Mobley to the incident by using the department's database to search for a nickname used on the police report, when in actuality Mobley ended up in the mix because of a random pull from the hat, sources said.

This may sound like a harmless technicality, but we've seen what can happen to a suspect who is caught up in the criminal justice system and someone takes a shortcut. Decades later, the wrongfully convicted man is finally let out of prison.

Evans, of course, is feeling the heat. If she raises questions, she could be accused of interfering with an investigation. If her complaints lead to an investigation that turns up something improper, she could be scorned by other officers.

"I am just seeking the truth," she told me. "If the truth is Nick [Mobley] is pulling a major cover-up and is capable of doing those types of things, he ought to be locked up. But we should be seekers of the truth."

Getting at the truth in both of these tragic situations will take more than the mayor's rantings. It will take a badge of courage.

LOAD-DATE: May 24, 2002
 
 

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