Thursday, November 10, 2011

Remember the Pavlins?

Remember the case of Jerome and Carla Pavlin, residents of McHenry County near Crystal Lake?

On March 14, 2008, deputies of the McHenry County Sheriff's Department went to the Pavlin's residence to arrest their son on a warrant while he was visiting his parents. The son was taken into custody, and the deputies refused to leave the house. Mr. and Mrs. Pavlin were subsequently arrested (and injured in the process) and jailed.

About five-six months later I got a tip in this case and went to the neighborhood to find the Pavlin home. Mr. Pavlin welcomed me into their home.

It took about a year and a half for the criminal charges to be dropped, with prejudice. They should have been dropped much sooner, which would have saved the Pavlins considerable defense legal fees.

The Pavlins filed a Federal lawsuit against the County, the Sheriff's Dept., the Sheriff and numerous deputies, including Deputies Jeremy Bruketta, Kyle Mandernack, Trevor Vogel, Christopher Jones, Ryan Lambert, Greg Pyle and David Shepherd.

I recall Mr. Pavlin's comment when I first met him, in about September 2008. He was afraid that the deputies would return and further injure his wife and him. The Pavlins have since sold their home and moved out of state.

U.S. Federal District Court Judge Frederick J. Kapala has ruled in this case, and the sheriff's deputies did NOT come out lily clean. You can read the decision on "More McHenry County Blog" at http://mhbtherestofthestory.blogspot.com/2011/11/judge-frederick-j-kapalas-decision-in.html


It's worth slugging through, perhaps because it confirms a number of the issues about which I had written in this case. The entry into the Palvin's home was illegal. A conspiracy claim was upheld, if I read the report correctly, related to the deputies having assembled on the following day to write their reports.

The sheriff says there is nothing wrong at his department. Baloney! I wonder what the Pavlin case is going to cost the Department. Big bucks, I hope. The Pavlins deserve it. If they clean $1,000,000 off the Department, it ought to come out of the pockets of the defendants and not out of the taxpayers' pockets.

Thanks to Cal Skinner for publishing the judge's decision!

6 comments:

Curious1 said...

You do understand that the document you refer to actually states that many of the Pavlin's charges were thrown out in a summary judgement prior to the case even really getting started, right? For a judge to throw much of the case out in a summary judgement is not a good thing for the Pavlin's.

Gus said...

I suspect that in many cases both sides win on some points and lose on others. You throw everything, including the kitchen sink, into the paperwork, argue it as much as the judge will allow, and let the judge decide.

I met the Pavlins. I was in the courtroom when their criminal charges were dismissed. The Asst. State's Attorney took the extraordinary step of explaining to the Pavlins what was meant by the State's dropping the charges "with prejudice". She wanted THEM to understand, and the judge let her tell them.

The success on the points of illegal entry and conspiracy are HUGE for the Pavlins and should not be ignored by residents of McHenry County.

Was there any discipline against the deputies involved?

Curious1 said...

Success? You mean that they weren't thrown out in a summary judgement before trial? By that definition even the prosecuters in the Bianchi trial were succesful.

Steve said...

You're reading too much into this - as is typical of anything that allows you to stick it to the sheriff's office. The judge has allowed several counts to be heard. There has been no decision as to whether or not the charges are true or not. As to the unlawful entry... it may well be just that. However, contrary to what you and Cal say, the judge has not declared it be unlawful at this point. He merely states that absent evidence at this point of clearly stated exigent circumstances, he cannot grant the defendant's (sheriff's)claim for summary judgment.

Gus said...

The criminal charges against the Pavlins were dismissed during a regularly-scheduled court hearing.

Gus said...

Hey, Steve. I like that. "As to the unlawful entry... it may well be just that."

Especially the "just" part...