New trial ordered in lawsuit over deadly Chicago police shooting of barber Harith Augustus

A state appellate court panel has ordered a new trial to determine whether a Chicago police officer acted with “utter indifference” when he fatally shot barber Harith Augustus on the South Side nearly eight years ago.

The three-judge panel concluded last week that Cook County Judge Bridget Hughes erroneously allowed city lawyers to dismiss two potential Black jurors during the initial trial, which stemmed from a lawsuit brought by Augustus’ family.

Augustus, a 37-year-old Black man, was fatally shot by a probationary police officer in South Shore on July 14, 2018. His family’s lawyers described him as a “beloved fixture of the neighborhood.”

The city was still grappling with the fallout from the fatal police shooting of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald at the time, and Augustus’ death prompted a fresh wave of protests and civil unrest.

His family sued the city and the officers connected to the shooting just a few months later, but the case took five years to get to trial. In July 2023, a jury ruled in favor of the officers.

The family’s attorneys had argued it was discriminatory when city lawyers dismissed the two potential Black jurors. Judge Hughes ultimately found the city had provided neutral reasons for striking the jurors, and the trial proceeded.

But last week, the appellate panel ruled that the dismissal of the possible jurors amounted to a violation of the equal protection provisions in the federal and Illinois constitutions.

“We are thrilled that the Appellate Court saw the injustice of the first trial and ordered a new one,” Renee Spence, one of the family’s lawyers, said Monday “The family deserves justice for Mr. Augustus's senseless death, and these officers — who recklessly and needlessly caused it — should be held accountable.”

A spokesperson for Chicago’s Law Department said city officials “strongly disagree with the court’s decision, which is not supported by the factual record or the governing legal standards. We are considering next steps."

Augustus was walking in the 2000 block of East 71st Street when a group of officers noticed “ the outline of a handgun underneath his shirt," according to a report by the Civilian Office of Police Accountability.

As an officer reached for his arm, Augustus spun away, revealing a gun holstered to his right hip, according to police body camera footage. Augustus continued into the street toward an approaching police vehicle and reached his hand toward his right hip,

That’s when Officer Dillan Halley fired five shots at Augustus. Video shows that Augustus staggered backwards after being shot and fell into the street. He was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

The deadly encounter unfolded in less than a minute. Augustus, who lived less than a mile from the shooting scene, had a valid license to own a gun but wasn’t permitted to carry one in public, according to police.

The Cook County state’s attorney’s office declined to press criminal charges against Halley. COPA recommended suspensions for seven officers, including a two-day suspension for Halley.

The lawsuit filed by Augustus’ family accused the city and its officers of battery, wrongful death, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and civil conspiracy. The civil conspiracy claim was tossed in 2022, but the appellate panel determined that was also a mistake.

Augustus’ death came just a year after the U.S. Department of Justice released a scathing report about the police department that identified a pattern of civil rights violations in the city’s Black and Latino neighborhoods. Still, Hughes barred lawyers for Augustus’ family from arguing race was a factor in his death.

“In the first trial, the court failed to give proper weight to the racial realities of not just this case, but the world in which we live,” said Scott Rauscher, another lawyer for the family.