A jury in February 2010 awarded her son $5 million, but the city appealed the matter and was able to reduce the settlement, she added.



The committee recommended a $1 million settlement for the sister of Rafe McMullan Jr., a 52-year-old man arrested on criminal trespassing charges who died in in the Chicago Police Department central detention unit on Nov. 12, 2008. A $3 million payout had been sought in that case, Darling said.



Witnesses from the lockup were prepared to testify that McMullan screamed and yelled for medical help but received none, Darling said. When he was found unresponsive on the floor of his cell, he had been dead for at least two hours, she said.



Aldermen also recommended settling for $560,000 a lawsuit filed by Iraq war veteran Frank Craig, who was "mistakenly pursued and arrested" for armed robbery and later acquitted, Darling said. The federal judge in Craig's civil lawsuit concluded that a Chicago Police detective "falsely testified before a grand jury," Darling said.



"Mr. Craig was held in jail for over two months, causing him to lose a job at the state of Illinois that he was about to start the day after his arrest, which would have provided full benefits to his family," Darling said. He was "unable to find similar paying work or benefits for his family," she added



Aldermen also recommended paying out $290,000 to Daniel and Karina Casares. Officers in October 2006 pulled Daniel Casares, a 26-year-old quadriplegic, from a vehicle and punched and kicked him, according to witnesses cited in the lawsuit.



The officers also stepped on his head and arrested and handcuffed his pregnant sister Karina when she tried to intervene, they alleged.



"We look at each case individually and defend each case individually," Darling said. "We are not saying there is any pattern here."



