Free Republic

<p>A Chicago police officer avoided jail time today for pummeling a woman who was tending bar, even though prosecutors produced a previously unseen video showing him beating someone else at the bar hours earlier.</p> <p>Anthony Abbate was sentenced to two years probation for beating Karolina Obrycka in February of 2007. He could have gotten up to five years for the attack, which was captured by the bar's security camera and shown around the world.</p>

An 18-stone Chicago police officer faces up to five years in jail after he was filmed repeatedly striking a woman in a bar. A judge last night dismissed Anthony Abbate’s claim that he was acting in self-defence after a barmaid attempted to stop him coming behind the bar. A video of the officer’s violent response has become infamous in the United States as it was replayed on television and the internet. Last night, Abbate was convicted of aggravated battery by John J Fleming, a Cook County Circuit judge. The policeman was cleared of two charges of official misconduct by the...