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A former Chicago Police Officer has been charged with perjury for lying under oath and giving false testimony during a criminal trial which led to the conviction of a woman who the officer had falsely claimed hit her in the face with a bottle after a traffic altercation during a funeral procession in 2010, according to the Office of Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez. 

Sylshina London, 36, a former patrol officer with the Chicago Police Department, appeared in Cook County Circuit Court today at 26th and California on a charge of Perjury, a Class 3 felony.  London had been employed with the Chicago Police Department since 2002 before resigning earlier this year.

London was charged after the State’s Attorney’s Office was contacted by officials from the Independent Police Review Authority, who had received complaints about the officer’s conduct and opened an investigation.  During the course of the investigation, IPRA authorities obtained Chicago Police Department POD camera footage of the date, time and location of the alleged incident which proved London’s claims against the woman to be false.

The charges stem from an incident that occurred on March 19, 2010 on Chicago’s South Side near 79th Street and Vincennes when London was off-duty and driving her personal vehicle to work.  According to prosecutors, London was late for work and on her way to the 6th District Police Station when she began cutting in and out of a funeral procession. 

Debra Green, whose sister was the deceased, noticed London cutting in and out of the traffic lane of the procession and as London’s car pulled next to hers, Green yelled at London for cutting into the procession and pointed to the funeral sticker on the windshield.  Green’s vehicle then continued on in the funeral procession, but when the car reached 100th Street and Vincennes, her vehicle was stopped by numerous police vehicles.  Green and several of her family members were detained and prevented from continuing on in the funeral procession to attend her sister’s burial, based upon Officer London calling in a false complaint that Green had committed a battery against her during the verbal altercation at 79th Street.  Green was subsequently charged with battery based on Officer London’s false accusation.

According to prosecutors, on September 21, 2010 during Green’s bench trial, Officer London repeated her allegation and testified that Green threw a bottle at her from the front passenger seat of the car she was riding in. 

London specifically stated under oath that a bottle hit her in the face through the open driver’s window of her car while the two vehicles were stopped alongside each other at 79th and Vincennes.  Officer London also testified that she was hit by the bottle on the left side of her face. 

Green was found guilty during the battery trial based on London’s testimony.  At the time of the trial, the existence of the POD camera video was unknown to the State’s Attorney’s Office. 

In the meantime, the Independent Police Review Authority had begun an investigation into the incident after members of the funeral procession contacted them regarding Officer London’s conduct.  As a part of the investigation, IPRA examined the POD camera footage, which clearly showed London’s driver window up.  IPRA then learned of Green’s conviction and Officer London’s false statement under oath that she was hit by a bottle.  IPRA immediately brought this information to the attention of the State’s Attorney’s Office.

The State’s Attorney’s Office has vacated Green’s battery conviction based on the new evidence. 

“As prosecutors we expect and demand truthful testimony from each and every witness who takes the stand in a criminal trial, and that expectation runs even deeper for police officers who have taken a sworn oath to tell the truth,” Alvarez said.  “We will not tolerate this type of misconduct from any citizen, particularly a police officer, and we will actively seek charges whenever we discover evidence that proves a person has lied on the witness stand.”

Cook County Circuit Court Judge Joseph Claps set bond for London today at $30,000 and scheduled the next court date for the case on November 8, 2011. 

State’s Attorney Alvarez thanked Ilana Rosenzweig, Chief Administrator at the Independent Police Review Authority and IPRA investigators for their cooperation and work on the case. 

The public is reminded that criminal charging documents contain allegations that are not evidence of guilt.  The defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the state has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

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