Recently I wrote about the Cindy O'Grady civil rights lawsuit against the McHenry County Sheriff's Department, and then I wrote about what led up to it - the arrest of Thomas Haas on a weapons charge by the Crystal Lake Police Department.
When I went to the courthouse last week, I could not find a court record in the public computer there that indicated why Haas' case was Nolle Prossed (dismissed) by Judge Weech. There was no Motion for dismissal in the court computer system, although there was a court order for him to get his guns back from the Crystal Lake PD.
I received a prompt response to my FOIA Request, which was filed after I called a clerk in the court's office, then called the State's Attorney's office (where I was directed to Court Administration), called the Public Defender's office, and then called Court Administration, where I left a message for a woman who never bothered to call me back with the public information.
Katherine Keefe, Clerk of the Circuit Court (the elected Clerk office, not a clerk), replied quickly to my FOIA Request and let me know that there is no written Motion for dismissal, because Judge Weech had accepted an oral motion from the Public Defender's office (which office had told me that they couldn't answer any questions).
All I can guess is that the Crystal Lake police officer who arrested Haas didn't show up in court, and so Judge Weech dismissed the case. Or maybe the officer was there and did not contest the oral motion for dismissal by the Public Defender. Without a written Motion it's hard to know exactly what happened.
Maybe the Court should review its procedures and require a written Motion on such an important matter.
Could somebody, somewhere, in the court system have answered my question last week about the public record in this case, so that a FOIA Request would not have been necessary? Doing so would have saved their time and taxpayer money.
The bottom line?
O'Grady's case was dismissed.
Haas's case was dismissed.
McHenry County Sheriff's Department is embroiled in one more lawsuit.
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5 comments:
The following comment was sent directly to me:
"Generally cases are nolle prossed because the prosecutor refuses to prosecute. However, misdemeanor charges can be reinstated after 18 months, felonies are longer but it depends upon the felony.
"If you want to know what is said you can order the transcript by calling the administrative office and giving them the date, judge, case number. Of course you have to pay for the transcript."
It was interesting to me that in the O'Grady court matter, the defendant's attorney filed a written Motion that that case was Nolle Prossed over the objection of the defendant.
He wanted to get on the record that, after his client was put through the legal wringer and incurred substantial defense legal fees, then the prosecution bailed out.
Should judges allow prosecutors to bail out or force them into a quick trial and let them prove that they DIDN'T have a case?
It's called a nolle prosequi in latin. The state doesn't want to continue because it can't prove the case. Why in the wide world of sports would you want expend more resources on a dead case? Why would you want a prosecutor to proceed when there is no case? Especially when that wouldn't be ethical. At the end of the day, it's the state's case, they can do with it what they want.
Oh, and exactly what significant legal fees did this guy pay to his FREE public defender?
The big question for a concerned public is how did a case drag for months through the legal system and then end up abandoned by the prosecution. Why didn't the prosecutor realize he didn't have a case a whole lot sooner? When people are charged with crimes, dragged through the legal system, incur defense expenses and then stand there, sucking their thumbs, when the prosecutor says "Bye-bye" and the judge allows it, it really builds faith in our justice system, doesn't it?
Ah, good one. By using the public defender, Haas didn't incur personal expense. WE did. So I guess we, the public, paid for both ends of this case.
In a case related to this one, though, Cindy O'Grady did incur personal legal expense while the case continued to a similar conclusion, abandoned by the prosecution. In her case, her private attorney did get a Motion approved by the judge which stated that the defendant objected to the dismissal.
Thanks again for your good comments.
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