By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News

(CHICAGO) — Judge Vincent Gaughan Friday denied retrial motions for former police officer Jason Van Dyke.

Attorney Daniel Herbert first asked the judge for a judgement not withstanding the verdict, essentially asking Judge Gaughan to determine that no reasonable jury could have reached the given verdict.

“Throughout the trial, and I complimented the jury every day … about their attentiveness that they were paying attention to the evidence, they heard the evidence,” Gaughan said.

The judge later heard arguments from the defense that pre-trial publicity essentially sealed Van Dykes fate with jurors but ultimately Gaughan disagreed.

Van Dyke was found guilty earlier this year of shooting teenager Laquan McDonald 16 times causing his death. McDonald had been high on PCP and wielding a knife in October 2014, but dashcam video didn’t show him lunging at officers as some had claimed.

Sentencing for Van Dyke has been set for January 18, 2019.

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