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Chicago City Wire

Wednesday, July 2, 2025

W.J. Kennedy News

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City attorneys ordered to produce detectives’ 'street files' in wrongful conviction cases of brothers convicted of killing a 10-year-old

By W.J. Kennedy | May 6, 2025

A federal judge has ordered city attorneys to produce detective “street files” of homicides from 1989 to 1996 in the wrongful conviction lawsuits of brothers Reginald Henderson and Sean Tyler, convicted of the 1994 murder of ten-year-old Rodney Collins.

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Kim Foxx murder exoneration case falling apart with dismissal of charges against some defendants

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 30, 2025

Chicago police officers named in the wrongful conviction lawsuit of convicted murderer Arnold Day have filed a motion in federal court for summary judgement (dismissal of charges) against them on the heels of a summary judgement for others named in the lawsuit.

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Brothers exonerated of murder by former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx attempt to drag the spectre of former Cdr. Jon Burge into their wrongful conviction lawsuits

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 11, 2025

Lawyers for the city of Chicago, named in a wrongful conviction lawsuit brought by exonerated brothers Sean Tyler and Reginald Henderson, are accusing lawyers for the brothers of trying to draw the emotionally charged allegations of torture against former CPD Commander Jon Burge into their lawsuits filed in federal court in 2023.

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Former supervisor of Felony Review Unit: State’s Attorneys' input in gun charges needed

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 9, 2025

A former Deputy Supervisor of the Felony Review Unit (FRU) in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) is expressing concern over the expansion of a program that allows police officers to file felony charges in certain gun cases without approval of the FRU.

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Lawyers battle over jurisdiction in Roberto Almodovar’s drawn-out wrongful conviction case

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 9, 2025

An attorney for Roberto Almodovar, convicted of a 1994 double murder but exonerated by former State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, is asking a federal judge to reconsider his summary judgement effectively dismissing all federal charges against one of the police officers named in Almodovar’s wrongful conviction lawsuit that was filed all the way back in 2018.

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Allegations in Weston wrongful conviction suit 'fails to carry the burden of proof'

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 7, 2025

Detective defendants and the city of Chicago are asking a federal judge to dismiss

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Retired homicide detective: 'Can't coddle criminals' and expect murder rates to go down

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 7, 2025

The reasons why Chicago is the murder capital of the nation for 13 years running are glaringly obvious, says Wirepoints President Ted Dabrowski, and the city’s progressive leaders seem almost perversely committed to maintaining the status quo.

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Eyewitness to the murder 'never recanted his testimony' against Jose Cruz

By W.J. Kennedy | Apr 7, 2025

Lawyers for Jose Cruz, convicted of a 1993 gang murder but freed by former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx,

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Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse study: Democratic leaders in Springfield receive millions in political donations from the plaintiffs’ bar

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 28, 2025

Democratic leaders in Springfield are the beneficiaries of millions in political donations from the plaintiffs’ bar, while the Republicans, in the minority in both the House and Senate, habitually receive nothing, a newly released study by the Illinois branch of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse (CALA) shows.

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Former prosecutor: Lawyers for Kim Foxx exonerees are on 'fishing expedition' in wrongful conviction lawsuit

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 24, 2025

Lawyers battling in the wrongful conviction lawsuits of two brothers convicted of the 1994 murder of a 10-year-boy on the South Side continue to dicker over the expanse of files to be included in the discovery phase of claims that the brothers’ constitutional rights were violated in their arrest and prosecution.

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Former State's Attorney Kim Foxx's legacy lives on with $120 million wrongful conviction lawsuit payout

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 24, 2025

A federal judge awarded the largest wrongful conviction settlement in the nation at $120 million to John Fulton and Anthony Mitchell for the 2003 murder of 18-year-old Christopher Collazo. Each had spent 16 years in prison until a judge threw out their convictions on their claims of police misconduct, with former Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx then dropping all charges – as she had done in dozens of other cases over her eight years running the office.

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Small Business Administration Records: New CPD Deputy Chief Yolanda Talley received $21K PPP loan for 'other personal care' business

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 20, 2025

Yolanda Talley, newly-named second in command of the Chicago Police Department, received a Paycheck Protection Program loan (PPP) for $20,833 in 2021 for a self-described "other personal care services" business, according to U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) records.

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ICE deports Sierra Leonean with ties to terrorist groups 17 years after arrest

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 14, 2025

U.S. Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE) has deported an illegal immigrant

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Chicago remains nation's murder capital as the 'criminal industrial complex' churns on

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 14, 2025

Murder rates in Chicago over 2024 show that the Windy City has kept its crown as the murder capital of the nation, according to a Wirepoints study that compared Chicago’s murder rates against those of 74 other large American cities.

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Illinois House of Representatives doubles down on permitting Cook County public defenders to represent illegal aliens

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 12, 2025

Last week, a state House committee approved legislation

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Disciplinary complaint likely against Loevy & Loevy attorney in criminal case against two former prosecutors

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 11, 2025

A Lake County judge who in February acquitted two former assistant state’s attorneys

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'Show me the man and I’ll show you the crime' nearly pulled off in case against former prosecutors Trutenko and Horvat

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 11, 2025

A little noticed, but enormously consequential, acquittal verdict in a criminal case against two former Cook County Assistant State’s Attorneys (ASAs) might have spared prosecutors everywhere from being targeted with trumped-up criminal charges based on unsubstantiated allegations of misconduct

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Misrepresentation of State's Attorney's Office Conviction Review Unit continues in the media

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 6, 2025

The Conviction Review Unit (CRU) in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office (CCSAO) has taken plenty of heat

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No word from Burke’s office on whether it will retry an exonerated Alexander Villa for murder of off-duty police officer

By W.J. Kennedy | Mar 5, 2025

Alexander Villa, convicted of the 2011 murder of off-duty police officer Clifton Lewis, has filed a lawsuit in federal court claiming his 2019 conviction was the result of a scheme by prosecutors and police to manufacturer evidence against him.

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Big win for gun rights advocates as judge strikes down requirement to possess firearm license inside the home

By W.J. Kennedy | Feb 18, 2025

For the third time a circuit court judge struck down a portion of the state law