And today's winner is ... Zane Seipler

Case No. 10MR000011 was scheduled for decision this morning. This is Zane Seipler's request for a Special Prosecutor. In a hallway conversation with a long-time McHenry County attorney (one not involved in the case) before court, he clearly felt that Seipler would not prevail.

In a long and drawn-out battle over whether a special prosecutor will be appointed to investigate and prosecute McHenry County Sheriff Keith Nygren for criminal conduct, Judge Thomas A. Meyer has decided that the battle will continue. While Judge Meyer did not today grant the request for a Special Prosecutor, he put a stop to the near-endless round of courtroom fights and granted Seipler's request as it pertained to Paragraphs 1-30 and 66-78. Those stay in. Paragraphs 31-65 were stricken.

It would have been nice to hear everything that was said in the courtroom today. See a separate article about the lack of decorum in today's courtroom.

Seipler's attorney, Blake Horwitz of Chicago, has 14 days to file a document, and then Donald Leist, Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney, has 28 days to respond.  The next court date is September 22nd at 9:00AM in Courtroom 201, the chambers of Judge Meyer.

The bottom line seems to be that the alleged facts about Sheriff Nygren's use of County taxpayer-supported assets for political purposes are sufficient for a cause of action to continue. There are viable claims. Today's decision was about about those claims, only that they are viable. Now discovery will begin.

According to Blake Horwitz after court, the February 2011 letter from State's Attorney Lou Bianchi that the State's Attorney can only defend the sheriff is evidence of the inability and unavailability of the State's Attorney's Office to investigate or prosecute criminal conduct by Sheriff Nygren, if any.

It was a long road for Zane Seipler and Blake Horwitz. During many of the hearings it appeared to me that Judge Meyer was wanting to keep in case moving. There were many opportunities where he could have ruled and shut it down.