Quantcast

COOK COUNTY RECORD

Thursday, November 21, 2024

W.J. Kennedy News


Latest Jose Cruz wrongful conviction filing is “fishing expedition”

By W.J. Kennedy |
Attorneys for Chicago Police officers accused of misconduct are pushing back against attempts by lawyers representing Jose Cruz, who was exonerated while serving a 90-year sentence over the murder of Antwane Douglas, to secure a trove of depositions from other cases that the city's lawyers say would be used to file more lawsuits

Soros-backed State's Attorney exonerates more than 250 since 2016 with city surpassing $300 million in payouts over the last decade

By W.J. Kennedy |
Most exonerations are based not on new evidence indicating innocence, but on extraordinary claims that police tortured suspects, fabricated evidence and colluded with prosecutors to win guilty verdicts.

Liberty Justice Center on automatic license plate readers lawsuit: 'The Fourth Amendment was written long before we had the technology to track peoples’ movements'

By W.J. Kennedy |
A public interest law firm is suing Illinois law enforcement officials for monitoring the movements of Illinoisans with automatic license plate readers (ALPRs).

Illinois Supreme Court: Appellate Court erred in affirming Judge Hooks' decision giving convicted cop killer a new trial

By W.J. Kennedy |
The appellate court erred in 2019 when it affirmed Cook County Judge William Hooks' decision that led to a new trial—a third one— for convicted cop killer Jackie Wilson, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled.

Lawsuit asks court to order Evanston Township HS to turn over info about racially exclusive math courses

By W.J. Kennedy |
North Cook News filed suit in late September after ETHS reportedly claimed in a response to two FOIA requests it had no emails among school officials discussing four math courses in which enrollment was limited to Latino or Black students

Chicago homicide detectives to testify in 'torture' cases, to challenge easy paydays for 'convicted murderers,' lawyers

By W.J. Kennedy |
It is estimated the city of Chicago has paid more than $130 million to settle claims brought in cases that critics say have been driven by political pressure generated from campaigns by trial lawyers to sympathetic media, and not by new evidence.

Ex-Chicago mayor candidate, who received controversial settlement over alleged police brutality, charged in public housing scheme

By W.J. Kennedy |
Catherine Brown, a 2019 candidate for Chicago mayor, has been charged by the Attorney General’s office with allegedly defrauding the CHA of $136,000 over 10 years. Brown was the recipient of a controversial $800,000 settlement from the city for alleged police brutality stemming from an incident in which police said she dragged an officer under her car

Legal scholar: Defamation case surrounding 40-year-old Chicago double murder of “national importance”

By W.J. Kennedy |
The search for the real killer of teenagers Jerry Hillard and girlfriend Marilyn Green is at the heart of an upcoming defamation case that a legal scholar says carries “national importance.”

Chicago lawyer denied additional interest on $26 million judgment from taxicab accident

By W.J. Kennedy |
CHICAGO (Legal Newsline) - An Illinois appeals court agreed with a lower court that an insurance company is not responsible for additional interest on a 2015 payout to a former Chicago-area attorney injured in a cab accident.

Eliminate prosecutorial immunity in criminal misconduct cases, says author of book recounting government overreach in Chicago insurance broker’s conviction

By W.J. Kennedy |
The scariest thing about the book, Conviction at Any Cost, which reads like a top crime novel, is that it’s not a work of fiction.