UPDATE: JURY GIVES HER NOTHING - Trial begins for woman who alleges police framed her in drug possession case - Sondra Cartwright claims she never sold or had dope in her CHA Project Apartment

UPDATE: A federal jury today awarded no damages to a woman who alleged she had been framed for drug possession nearly six years ago by Chicago police, including a sergeant who later pleaded guilty to corruption.

Sondra Cartwright, 50, who represented herself at the three-day trial, sought $4 million in damages during closing arguments earlier today.

The eight-member jury took a little less than an hour to find in favor of the city and the three officers who had been sued by Cartwright over her arrest in November 2007.

I be smiling and happy too if I was given a FREE place to live, FREE monthly Checks, FREE food stamps and NEVER HAD TO WORK A DAY IN MY LIFE! 

A former resident of a South Side housing development broke into tears Wednesday as she testified to a federal jury how a team of Chicago police officers led by a corrupt sergeant framed her for drug possession during an arrest nearly six years ago.

Sondra Cartwright is suing the city and three police officers — including former Sgt. Ronald Watts — for allegedly kicking in the door to her apartment in the Ida B. Wells housing complex without probable cause, planting bags of crack outside her window and claiming she'd dropped them there in a panic.

Cartwright, 50, who is representing herself, took the stand and testified in an often rambling narrative how the narcotics officers who patrolled the area were known to be as much a part of the ubiquitous drug trade as the dealers themselves. At times, Cartwright sobbed as she described her interactions with the police. But then she would compose herself and strike a defiant tone.

"They can never be charged and prosecuted as criminals, but that is exactly what they are," Cartwright said.

CLICK FOR MORE