A Lake County judge presiding over the criminal cases of two former Cook County assistant prosecutors, eviscerated special prosecutors with the State’s Attorney’s Office, headed by Kim Foxx, for disregarding one of the most sacred doctrines in law – a doctrine, Judge Daniel Shanes said, is “more preciously guarded by the law than what people say to their doctors or priests,” that of attorney-client privilege.
“The Court is shocked by the failure of the Cook County State's Attorney's Office to ensure their assistants know when and how attorney/client relationships form,” Judge Shanes said in a Wednesday ruling. “And to take appropriate steps to ensure that an attorney/client relationship only forms when one is intended. Issues like these threaten the very foundation of the practice of law and undermine public confidence in the law.”
Shanes is presiding over the case due to a potential conflict in the Cook County court system given that both defendants, Nick Trutenko and Andrew Horvat, previously worked in the state’s attorney’s office.
The ruling centers around the extent of the attorney-client relationship between Paul Fangman,an assistant prosecutor, and Trutenko, who faces charges of wrongdoing related to the decades-long legal saga of Jackie Wilson and his role in the 1982 murders of two Chicago police officers. In his ruling, Judge Shane limited testimony from Fangman, and special prosecutors, effectively losing one of their key witnesses, quickly announced that they would file an appeal, a rare mid-trial move. That appeal is expected in a few days.
Lawyers for Trutenko and Horvat argued that the appeal denied their clients' speedy trials.
Horvat’s attorney, Terry Ekl, told the Chicago Tribune that special prosecutors should face criminal charges.
“The basis of this indictment is that Andrew [Horvat] violated the rules of professional conduct and therefore committed a felony,” Ekl said. “If Kim Foxx and her lackeys in the office violated the rules of professional conduct as it relates to attorney-client privilege, isn’t that also a felony offense under the theory of this prosecution? Tell me what the difference is. Kim Foxx and her people ought to be looking over their shoulder as to whether they’re subject to criminal liability as well.”
Jack Wilson and his brother Andrew were convicted in 1983 for the execution style murders of officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien. In 1989, Jackie, tried separately from his brother, was acquitted of the O’Brien murder but convicted again of the Fahey murder. He was sentenced to life. Trutenko prosecuted the case. Horvat represented Trutenko before the Chicago Police Board in 2020.
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