W.J. Kennedy Stories | Chicago City Wire

Two convicted murderers on cusp of divvying up $25 million in wrongful conviction settlements

By W.J. Kennedy | Sep 13, 2023

City Council is on the verge of approving a controversial wrongful conviction payout of $25 million to two convicted of the 1993 murder of college basketball start Morgan Marshall Jr. on the South Side.

Cashless bail transition will be a bumpy one: Sheriff’s Association

By W.J. Kennedy | Sep 1, 2023

The cashless bail era in Illinois begins on September 18, and the transition to first such statewide bail system in the country “won’t be the smooth as advocates hope,” Jim Kaitschuk, Executive Director of the Illinois Sheriffs’ Association, told Chicago City Wire.

Trial bar looking to expand scope of public nuisance laws with 'theft' suits against auto makers, expert says

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 30, 2023

Lawsuits recently brought by Chicago and other cities targeting car makers Kia and Hyundai over a surge in car thefts represent the latest attempt by the trial bar to expand the scope of the public nuisance tort, according to legal expert Victor Schwartz.

What is Kim Foxx hiding? Part Two

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 24, 2023

Kim Foxx has refused to turn over files in the possession of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) covering the criminal prosecutions of two brothers convicted of the 1982 murders of two police officers – files that would help in the defense of a former CCSAO employee named in a wrongful conviction case brought by the surviving brother.

What is Kim Foxx hiding? Part One

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 23, 2023

Repeated requests of Kim Foxx’s office, and a follow-up request from an attorney, to provide public documents to Chicago City Wire related to dozens of exoneration cases have been ignored.

Police union requests removal of disciplinary cases from civilian board cops contend is biased

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 18, 2023

An attorney for the Chicago Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7 has petitioned the Chicago Police Board, a civilian disciplinary board, to surrender 20 cases for referral to an independent arbitrator, the Chicago Tribune reports.

As crime surges, a flawed cashless bail system will put 'dangerous and repeat offenders on the streets'

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 17, 2023

The cashless bail era begins in Illinois on September 18, and has so many flaws, former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas writes in a recent commentary, that it will put “dangerous and repeat offenders back on the street.”

Englewood Four case exemplar of how the legal system is being manipulated: former detective

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 11, 2023

For former homicide Detective Kenneth Boudreau no other case is more an exemplar of the gaming of the criminal justice system than that of Nina Glover, a known prostitute murdered in 1994 in the Englewood neighborhood on the South Side.

Not hiring police same as defunding them, Vallas says.

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 11, 2023

In a recent commentary, former mayoral candidate Paul Vallas cited record overtime costs for police as a symptom of having too few officers. And, he says, not hiring more police is in effect a way of defunding them.

Police get big win in proposed changes to disciplinary proceedings

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 7, 2023

Rank-and-file members of the Chicago Police are on the verge of having the final resolution of their more serious disciplinary cases moved out from under two civilian oversight boards -- both of which the police union, FOP Lodge 7, have accused of harboring anti-police bias -- and under the authority of an independent arbitrator where police believe they will receive fairer treatment.

Latest wrongful conviction suit’s claim of police frame-up 'completely contrived,' former detective says

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 3, 2023

A news story covering the latest in wrongful conviction complaints mimics past narratives driving earlier wrongful conviction lawsuits: bad cops beat confessions out of innocent people.

Medium illinois state capitol springfield

'Silence alarming' over expected impact of cashless bail system, says crime survivors advocate

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 2, 2023

On September 18, the cashless bail era in Illinois begins and Patricia Wenskunas, Founder/CEO of Crime Survivors Inc. is alarmed over the silence surrounding the impact the new law will almost certainly have on crime.

Pritzker, Foxx and a wrongful conviction lawsuit don’t prove innocence

By W.J. Kennedy | Aug 1, 2023

The wrongful conviction lawsuit filed last week by Marilyn Mulero doesn’t make her innocent of the 1992 execution style murder of a rival gang member, a crime she confessed to and spent 27 years in prison for.

Alderman: Rare rejection of settlement surrounding police shooting brings hope of heightened scrutiny of payouts

By W.J. Kennedy | Jul 27, 2023

For Alderman Nicholas Sposato (38th Ward) last week’s City Council rejection of a $2 million settlement in the 2014 police shooting death of Darius Cole-Garrit is a hopeful sign that his colleagues will closely scrutinize future recommended payouts by the city’s Law Department concerning alleged cases of police misconduct

Cops battling exposure to illnesses, unsubstantiated sexual misconduct allegations surrounding illegals housed in their stations

By W.J. Kennedy | Jul 27, 2023

One of the fallouts of having hundreds of illegal immigrants housed in police stations around the city is that the police are exposed to illnesses carried by possibly unvaccinated individuals with inadequate, or no, health care, and to their trash.

Reports surrounding police consent decrees usually flawed, law enforcement expert says

By W.J. Kennedy | Jul 7, 2023

A recent report showing that the Chicago police were nine times more likely to stop Blacks than Whites over 2018 and 2019 presents an incomplete and potentially misleading profile of law enforcement practices in the city, says Jason Johnson, president of the Law Enforcement Legal Defense Fund out of Washington D.C.

Federal judge with questions on COIs for two convicted murderers blocks deposition of Kim Foxx staff attorney

By W.J. Kennedy | Jul 6, 2023

In a surprise move, U.S. District Court Judge Steven Seeger blocked the deposition of First Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Risa Lanier in the wrongful conviction cases of two found guilty in the 1998 savage murders of a husband and wife, and the kidnapping of their children.

Discussions with Kim Foxx’s office centered on detective’s record, not the awarding of Innocence Certificates to their clients, plaintiffs’ attorneys say

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 30, 2023

Plaintiffs’ attorneys in a federal wrongful conviction case say they met with officials in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office (CCSAO), headed by Kim Fox, to layout abuse claims against retired detective Reynaldo Guevara, not argue in favor of their clients receiving Certificates of Innocence (COI).

Former ethics official under Kim Foxx, who quietly walked away from Smollett debacle, nominated as next U.S. Attorney for Northern District

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 29, 2023

President Joe Biden has nominated April Perry, a former official with the Cook County State’s Attorney Office, to be the next U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois

Lawyers settle wrongful conviction case surrounding murder of college basketball star

By W.J. Kennedy | Jun 24, 2023

In a shocking development, settlements have been reached in the wrongful conviction cases of Tyrone Hood and Wayne Washington, convicted of the 1993 murder of college basketball star Morgan Marshall Jr.

Chicago City Wire

W.J. Kennedy News