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* Yikes…
Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez was accused Wednesday of deliberately charging a now-acquitted Chicago Police detective with involuntary manslaughter instead of first-degree murder to “curry favor with” the Fraternal Order of Police.
Flamboyant criminal defense attorney Sam Adam Jr. said the rare directed verdict of acquittal that abruptly ended the trial of Dante Servin makes Adam more likely than ever to challenge Alvarez in the 2016 Democratic primary.
In issuing the stunning ruling, Circuit Judge Dennis Porter said pointing a gun at an intended victim and pulling the trigger is an intentional act — not a reckless one. He essentially said Servin should have been charged with murder — not involuntary manslaughter — for firing into a crowd and killing 22 year-old Rekia Boyd in March 2012.
Adam couldn’t agree more. But he argued that Alvarez’s “mistake” was intentional.
“When a man comes out, argues with an individual, then shoots an unregistered handgun over his shoulder into a crowd and rips the life out of a young vibrant African-American woman with no good cause and that individual is treated completely differently because he’s an off-duty police officer, that shows the problem we have in this county,” Adam said.
“To charge that as reckless conduct and not first-degree murder — either you’re doing it because you want to curry favor with the police department or you’re completely inept,” Adam said. “I think there’s no question it was deliberate. She wants to curry favor with the FOP. It took a $4.5 million settlement to get charges in this case. She was stuck in a hard place. If you charge first-degree murder, the FOP is mad at her. If you don’t charge anything, the community is upset. So you play the odds. That says you’re thinking about your job, not about what’s right.”
* But…
Top prosecutors in State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez’s office insisted the decision to charge Detective Dante Servin with involuntary manslaughter, not first-degree murder, was the only option given the facts of the case.
“The facts that were available and were presented at trial showed that this defendant did not commit an intentional or a knowing murder,” said Alan Spellberg, supervisor of the office’s criminal appeals division. “What he did was he shot over his back, backwards into the dark of night … towards people. That’s the classic definition of a reckless discharge.” […]
Spellberg of the state’s attorney’s office said first-degree murder charges weren’t an option because prosecutors didn’t have evidence that Servin had a specific intent to kill anyone.
While Servin’s attorneys argued their client intended to kill Cross [in self defense], that potential evidence never came in at trial because of its abrupt end, Spellberg said.
* On another topic, from a BGA press release…
How often do Chicago police officers miss work-related court hearings, and what effect do those absences have on criminal and traffic proceedings?
Those are potentially important questions that speak to how well officers are doing their jobs, the integrity of the criminal justice system, the stewardship of taxpayer dollars and a host of other issues.
But apparently they aren’t questions the Chicago Police Department is willing to answer.
Citing the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, or FOIA, the Better Government Association asked the police department for copies of records on court absences. Unsatisfied with CPD’s response, the BGA submitted a new request pressing for detailed records – including a database with information on court absences by officers – and CPD failed to even respond.
So on April 22, 2015, the BGA filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against the police department, claiming the agency violated FOIA, the state law guaranteeing public access to public records upon request.
“They not only didn’t turn over the information we asked for, they ignored our request altogether, in blatant violation of FOIA,” said BGA CEO and President Andy Shaw. “CPD is supposed to enforce laws, not break them. This really speaks to a culture of indifference to taxpayers, and a woeful lack of transparency.”
The BGA has another pending lawsuit against CPD for its failure last year to respond to a FOIA request seeking copies of letters and emails between aldermen and police district commanders.
http://www.bettergov.org/bga_sues_chicago_police_department_over_transparency/
“The Emanuel administration, which oversees CPD, has heralded its commitment to transparency, but has not delivered in too many instances,” Shaw said. “The proof is in the numerous lawsuits we’ve filed in recent years against various city government agencies, including the police.”
Here’s a link to all of BGA’s legal actions.
http://www.bettergov.org/investigations/bga_legal_action.aspx
* Related…
* Lawsuit Seeks To End Police Stop And Frisk Tactics In Chicago
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 12:41 pm
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Any criminal defense attorney will tell you that Junior is spot on on Alvarez deliberately (or negligently) mischarging the case. And Alvarez’s response attacking him is about as low and unprofessional as it gets. Anita Alvarez has no intention of defending her record to the likes of Mr. Adam, who has spent his legal career not as a prosecutor but as a defender of violent criminals, rogue police officers and corrupt politicians,”. Anyone who would publicly express that attitude is unfit to be State’s Attorney.
Comment by anon Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 12:46 pm
I am a criminal defense attorney and I think Sam Adam, Jr. is completely wrong. The logic, I suppose, is that Alavarez, wanting to curry favor with the FOP, charges a police officer with a crime, knowing that at some point that officer will walk after a motion for directed verdict. Do I have that correct? That’s like something from a Robert Ludlum novel, which while fun to read, are so crazy implausible, that the suspension of disbelief necessary makes the read not worth it.
Comment by paddyrollingstone Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 12:50 pm
Thought experiment: can you picture someone who killed a cop getting off on a technicality like this?
This is phony justice, the appearance of following rules when really the rules are being manipulated to achieve the outcome the cops, the judge and the ASAs all wanted.
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 1:10 pm
paddy - would your view change if it turned out Spellberg took exact opposite position in briefs to court - that firing in direction of crowd but not intending to hit anyone is always murder, never reckless?
Comment by Liblawyer Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 1:11 pm
To paraphrase Judge Porter, the prosecutor’s charging error “is beyond reckless; it is intentional.”
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 1:31 pm
My take is that Alvarez didn’t want to bring charges and did so only out of pressure. Are you seriously contending that her office ever charges other people with only recklessness under those circumstances? Arguable whether her intent was to throw the case entirely or just to minimize the punishment but no way would any other defendant be charged with anything except first degree murder under those facts.
Comment by anon Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 1:31 pm
Why did she not charge murder in the alternative. By not charging it, she tried to force the judge into her trick bag. Bye Bye Anita, its been too long.
Comment by old-pol Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 1:33 pm
==- paddyrollingstone - Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 12:50 pm:==
Not impossible at all. After all, you’re talking about Anita “Necrophilia” Alvarez.
https://youtu.be/YSo_9Xo_78E?t=10m
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 1:58 pm
“Spellberg of the state’s attorney’s office said first-degree murder charges weren’t an option because prosecutors didn’t have evidence that Servin had a specific intent to kill anyone.”
Spellberg needs to go back to law school. That would be an accurate statement if they sought to charge ATTEMPTED murder, because for attempt you do need to prove a specific intent to commit the crime attempted.
But a murder charge can be supported if, to quote the Illinois statute, the person “in performing the acts which cause the death he knows that such acts create a strong probability of death or great bodily harm”.
Comment by JoanP Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 1:59 pm
They’re both wrong. The right charge would have been between the two extremes. What do we expect from these two characters?
Comment by walker Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 2:03 pm
one can have questions about the charging in this case…I know those who would have been more harsh about the charging…but Sam Adam is truly living in the land of fiction. His assertion about Alvarez is ridiculous. if anything, she is most frequently assailed as not a friend of the police and this one case would have made no difference. Adam is so far off the mark that it’s laughable. why would anyone hire Sam Adam Jr. as their attorney?
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 2:12 pm
The BGA asks a very good question. Several of my friends are Chicago police officers and I work directly with several more. Most of them have openly admitted to gaming the system just about any way they can, and the “showing up for court” game is one of their favorites. How many officers assigned to report to court at 8:30 AM do you really think show up at 8:30 AM? The (paper, i.e. nothing electronic) sign in sheet will definitely show they arrived at 8:30 AM, but lots don’t stroll in until later. Sergeants, partners and friends sign each other in all of the time, and nobody reports it. And record keeping by the CPD? Truly amusing.
As much of the problem though is with the Cook County court system and its antiquated systems. They still use carbon copies for crying out loud! Scheduling is a mess.
Comment by Left Leaner Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 2:19 pm
Alan Spellberg is one of the most intelligent and knowledgeable attorneys in Illinois when it comes to criminal issues. Attack Anita if you want, but leave Spellberg out of it.
Also, Jr. has never been above using someone else’s tragedy to promote his own bombastic brand without regard to the underlying cause of his supposed outrage–and that’s all he seems to be doing here.
If anyone thinks Anita is an ineffective State’s Attorney, take a step back and think about how many jaws would drop after seeing what Jr. would do if he was in office.
Comment by anon Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 2:22 pm
Anita Alvarez has the prosecutor blinders in a bad way.
Alvarez simply can’t acknowledge in public that the Cook County States Attorney’s office ever did anything wrong.
This arrogance (and lack of accountability) leads to bad decisions being made. ASAs aren’t the smartest legal minds. They are the people politically connected enough to get a job there.
What is the Cook County States Attorney’s record in cases that go to trial where the other side is represented by competent counsel?
Comment by Carl Nyberg Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 2:41 pm
Everything is bad.
Anita is very bad.
The Chicago Police Department is very bad.
The Judge was bad.
These are all people who get paid over $100,000 (CPD average is 80K after 10 years, plus “perks”).
And they all are complicit in the murder.
Comment by Anonymous Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 2:49 pm
It is hard to imagine that Anita would under charge this case so appallingly if the defendant had been a gang banger and the victim had been a cop. State’s Attorneys are notorious for grossly overcharging in every case w/ every charge they can think of and throwing the kitchen sink in whenever they can. This was the Thin Blue Line in action.
Comment by D.P.Gumby Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 3:50 pm
Wow, you’d think that Allen Spellberg would recognize that Murder is not a specific intent crime. I’m all for defending your boss, but make sure you know how to prove a murder.
Comment by Ferris Bueller Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 3:51 pm
Perhaps we should ask Tremayne Wills. He fired a rifle into an apartment building, no victims in sight, as a lark in Springfield a few years ago. Bullet enters an apartment and kills a guy who Wills couldn’t even see when he pulled the trigger. He was convicted of first-degree murder and is now serving more than 40 years.
Run, Sam, run.
Comment by Clarence Darrow Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 4:33 pm
Precinct Captain, I don’t know why that comment wasn’t enough to get her out of office. What a huge disaster for Chicago and for justice.
Comment by Soccermom Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 4:42 pm
==- Soccermom - Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 4:42 pm:==
That segment aired in December 2012, so 2016 will actually be her first election since that episode of 60 Minutes.
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 5:15 pm
Amalia, “why would anyone hire Sam Adam Jr. as their attorney?”
I would go with because he wins. I don’t agree with his tactics, and he certainly has his faults, but he did get Rod a mistrial at the first go.
But to the article, I personally don’t think the charge that was brought had anything to do with the FOP, but it was most certainly the wrong charge. When the SA’s office defense for their action is “this defendant did not commit an intentional or a knowing murder… What he did was he shot over his back, backwards into the dark of night … towards people” I really think you are assuming the cop had no idea what the potential consequences of squeezing his trigger finger would be. Which would be beyond unbelievable.
Comment by Juice Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 5:16 pm
does he really win that much? most lawyers I know think he is a puff piece.
Comment by Amalia Thursday, Apr 23, 15 @ 6:29 pm