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11 months ago
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Whitley Temple took control of the squad car and reversed into CPD Officer Ed Poppish.CHICAGO — The Cook County judge who oversaw the bench trial of a woman who struck a Chicago cop with his own squad car says she has been receiving threats since finding Whitley Temple not guilty by reason of insanity.
We’ve also received documents from the city of Chicago that show how Temple managed to get hired as an accountant at the Department of Family and Support Services while she had an attempted murder case pending.
And, in a court hearing earlier this month, the injured officer, Ed Poppish, presented a victim statement, revealing how that nearly fatal encounter changed him and his life.
Here’s the latest…
You’re hired!
Records show Temple, who previously worked for the city, was hired to work as an accountant at DFSS with a start date of February 5. However, in the days leading up to February 5, a deputy commissioner at DFSS learned, according to an email, that the city had been “working on placing her on the do not hire list in 2023.”
“Our Director of Personnel reminded me that we were going to terminate Whitley, but she resigned before we did,” a deputy director in the city’s Finance Department replied.
Upon learning that, the DSS deputy commissioner emailed the Law Department to ask if they “see an issue” with rescinding Temple’s employment offer.
The attorneys nixed that idea.
“Based on our conversation… rescinding a candidate’s offer the Friday before their start date was a risk and the candidate could sue,” another DFSS deputy commissioner wrote in an email.
That same email mentioned that the city was aware that Temple had been charged with attempted murder but “they were dismissed and no convictions.” Three weeks after Temple started, DFSS leaders learned that the attempted murder case was very much active and ongoing. Temple left the agency soon after.
During a court hearing on July 2, Temple’s attorney, K.S. Galhotra, blamed the Chicago police officers for Temple’s dismissal:
“Other individuals were upset and found that she was a City of Chicago employee when they looked into their Chicago police computer system and they started getting upset that Ms. Temple… And they raised a stink, and Ms. Temple who had this job for about a month, was fired,” Galhotra said.
He offered no evidence that Temple’s employment status was discovered through a “Chicago police computer system.” The city publishes a database of all municipal employees, their titles, and their salaries online.
Judge threatened
During the same court hearing, Judge Tyria Walton received a state report on the woman’s condition and heard a victim statement from the officer, Ed Poppish. But before hearing Poppish, Walton made a statement of her own.
“Every time we are here, there is a need for me to make a record because something stupid has happened between the last court date and today’s court date,” Walton began, saying she had previously mentioned “disparaging comments and borderline threats” made toward her online and in the media.
“I knew about all of them, that I wasn’t moved by any of them, and I wasn’t. I’m still not. The decision that I made was based on the evidence that I received,” the judge continued.
Those threats continued after she found Temple not guilty of attempted murder and not guilty by reason of insanity of a host of other felonies.
“I have received phone calls from individuals who have represented that they are members of the Chicago Police Department and that I should, in essence, watch my back, and that if — that someone was going to be shot as a result of my ruling. Those phone calls were made directly to the presiding judge’s office here in this building and to the chief judge’s office. In addition to that, I have received a number of calls to call me, and I’m going to quote, a racist piece of s**t, because I’m Black, because Ms. Temple is Black, and because Officer Poppish is White,” the judge continued.
“In addition, my picture has been shared on the Second City Blog, it has been shared on Second City posts, Facebook, my address at home, my contact information, and I’ve received a number of calls,” Walton stated. “So, again, you got the right one because I’m not moved by any of it, but the marshals and the other persons who are in charge of judicial security have been made aware of each and every threat and disparaging comment that I have received and those that have been made about the attorneys of record in this case.”
Walton said she had kept attorneys on both sides informed about the threats “in the event that they feel it necessary to get protection on their own” or for Poppish or Temple.
“So some of the names [people called her] before were democrat rat, r-a-t, in capital letters; hood rat; ghetto girl; anything but the Honorable Tyria B. Walton which is what I earned. And some people refer to me as that reggin judge, r-e-g-g-i-n, and it took me a minute to figure that one out, but that is n****r backwards, and those posts have been brought also to the authorities because that’s hate. That’s hate at this point.”
“I’m not moved by any of it. My decision was based on the evidence in this case and the law that supports my ruling in this case. Period…. but there has been a threat on my life. But I’m not moving, I’m coming to work every day, and I’m not staying in my house. I’m going to move freely. That’s that.”
Victim statement
After Walton’s statement, she heard from Poppish. Here’s what he said:
Good afternoon, Your Honor.
First of all, I want to thank the Court for allowing me a chance to make this impact statement and I just want to let you know it’s appreciated.
On June 25th, I made 23 years on the Chicago Police Department, and I guess this weekend I’ve been doing a lot of thinking and contemplating about my time on the job, and I also did 17 years on the West Side. And I guess this weekend when I was doing this statement, I was making a lot of thoughts and thinking back about my time on the streets and all the stuff I experienced.
And I worked in the 11th District for 17 years, and it was one of the most toughest districts and it’s one of the most violent districts, and I’ve seen many shootings, many people gasping their last breath, and I’ve seen people at the worst time of their lives.
And when I worked on the streets in the 11th District, I just had a simple philosophy, treat people the way I wanted my mother and father to be treated or my family member to be treated. And I made good relationships with the community, and I always tried to treat them with respect, and I had great relationships with the citizens.
And, you know, I worked in the 11th District for a long time, and I know for a fact that you’re not going to be able to find one single, solitary person that says that I ever brutalized them or hurt them or did them dirty, and I’m always going to be proud of that fact.
And when I started work on June 13th, and when I — you know, I never thought in a million years that that could be the day which I also lose my life — almost lose my life. And when I was responding to that shots fired call then I was flagged down, and, you know, I saw Ms. Temple in the middle of the street, and my one and only thought in my mind was to protect her and to make sure that nobody harmed her and make sure that nobody hurt her.
And then, you know, I was trying to struggle with her and I was just trying my — I was trying everything. The only thing I wanted her to do was just to stop and not drive off, and, you know, and then she pulled and then I hit my head on the ground.
And, you know, if I can describe what that feels like, having your — hit your head on the ground,it’s probably the most terrifying experience I’ve had in my life because it felt like I got hit by a ton of bricks, and I really thought that that was the end of me.
And, you know, going up there and going afterwards and struggling to get up and watching my squad car go away was one of the most helpless feelings I’ve ever had in my life. And, you know, I got stitches and a concussion, and the physical pain healed eventually, but also, you know, when you deal with an experience like that, it changes you.
And then, you know, [I] went through many weeks of therapy for my balance, and I went to therapy for — excuse me — my orthopedic for my knees, and I went through a traumatic incident management program. And after this incident, it caused me to be moody and anxious and I pushed away a lot of people that were close to me. And a few people I was close to basically, you know, stopped returning my messages, and, I mean — I mean, I guess I really don’t blame them because if I was in their position, I probably would have done it, too.
But when you deal with an incident like that and dealing with that, it just makes you feel so alone, and it’s the worst feeling in the world. And — and I know [Temple’s attorney] Mr. Galhotra during his closing was — stressed on the fact that I got released from the hospital the same day, and a car is not a weapon, but, yeah, that’s very true, but the only reason why I wasn’t killed is because that car moved out of the way. And I’ve seen that video almost a million times, and when I think about how close I was to being crushed to death, that is a — something that is never going to leave me for the rest of my life.
And — and, you know, I’ve seen all the videos a million times, and I’ve seen the videos in court, and — and then one of the most things that will never leave me is that — how I was seconds away from losing my life, and even though life goes on and you deal with it the best you can, that’s something that will always stick with me.
And — but I’m also grateful for a lot of things. I am grateful that I walked home. I went home from the hospital the same day. And I’m also grateful that I wasn’t on that memorial wall, because in 23 years, I went through a lot of funerals and I’ve seen a lot of death and destruction, and the fact that I was able to walk away from that with just stitches and a concussion, I will always be grateful for that.
And I’m — I will also be grateful for the residents on the block because on the worst day of my life, when I was struggling to get up from being hit, they made sure nothing happened to me and they made sure nobody took my gun or did anything to me, and I really believe to this day it’s — that’s because I’ve always treated them right and I’ll always be proud of my time on the street and how I treated people.
And, you know, when the verdict came down on May 29th, I felt like I got hit by a ton of bricks.
And even though I didn’t agree with your verdict, I accepted it, but my opinion is that having her walk the streets, Ms. Temple with no monitoring whatsoever, and just, you know, no supervision, no monitoring, is just basically kind of giving the message that what she did that day was all good, and that, you know, it was, like, oh, well, he left the hospital the same day, no harm, no foul.
So I’m respectfully asking that you consider and make sure that any supervision, that she’s strictly monitored, and so this tragic incident won’t happen again. I appreciate your time, Your Honor.
Temple is due back in court for a commitment hearing on August 15.
This story is made possible by contributions to the Cook County Courtroom Transparency Fund.
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