A Cook County judge seeking retention to a fourth six-year term sided with a woman accused of stabbing her lover to death stay out of jail while she awaited trial, in part because the judge said the woman had already killed the man and was no longer a threat to public safety.
In the ruling, Cook County Judge Ramon Ocasio III reasoned that defendant Starisha Snowden's "animosity" was "specific" to victim Michael Roberts Jr. "who is now dead."
In February, while serving on a three-justice panel at the Illinois First District Appellate Court, Ocasio split with his colleagues, who said Snowden should remain in jail pre-trial.
"... There is no evidence that Snowden has ever harmed or tried to harm anybody other than Roberts or that she intends to do so now or in the future," Ocasio wrote in dissent in the case docketed as People v. Snowden.
The majority sided with prosecutors from the Cook County State's Attorney's office in affirming the trial court's order for Snowden's detention.
According to court documents and published reports, on the day of Roberts' death, Aug. 31, 2023, Snowden, then 38, is alleged to have been drunk early in the afternoon when she allegedly attacked Roberts, 41, at the apartment of his estranged wife, Lanice Smith, in the 6300 block of South Martin Luther King Drive.
Roberts was stabbed in the neck above his right clavicle.
Snowden did not admit to stabbing Roberts to death, but she did admit to police that she had stabbed him earlier in 2023.
Snowden was charged with two counts of first degree murder.
Despite being accused of murder, Snowden's lawyers had argued she should not be held in jail before standing trial, citing the state's controversial Safety, Accountability, Fairness and Equity (SAFE-T) Act or Pretrial Fairness Act.
The law, which eliminated cash bail in Illinois, generally allows accused criminals to avoid jail while awaiting trial, unless prosecutors can persuade a judge they should remain in jail. For instance, prosecutors are allowed to argue an accused criminal charged with a violent crime represents a flight risk or a threat to the community.
In Snowden's case, judges agreed the nature of her case should allow the state to hold her at the Cook County Jail while she awaits trial.
Ocasio, however, said they should not.
"Had Roberts survived, the State's proffer would have justified a finding that she posed a threat to (Roberts') safety," Ocasio wrote in dissent. "But he did not, and the State's proffer did not provide a basis for finding, by clear and convincing evidence, that she poses a similar threat to anybody else.
"The only time she put another person's safety at risk was when she tried to shove her way into Smith's apartment for the purpose of getting to Roberts. Her threat of violence was expressly targeted at Roberts, not at Smith. There is no evidence that she harmed Smith or that she harbored (or harbors) ill-will toward Smith. Indeed, there is no evidence that Snowden has ever harmed or tried to harm anybody other than Roberts or that she intends to do so now or in the future. It is entirely rational, of course, to worry that an accused murderer might hurt somebody else. But that speculative concern is generally applicable to any case involving a murder charge."
While a Cook County judge, Ocasio was assigned by the Illinois Supreme Court to the First District Appellate Court, effective Sept. 29, 2023. That appointment is open-ended, or "until further order of the court," as expressed in the Supreme Court's appointment order.
To remain on the bench, however, Ocasio must still face voters in the upcoming November election, as he seeks retention to the bench.
He was first elected circuit judge as a Democrat in 2006, and was retained in 2012 and 2018.
Ocasio's assignment filled a vacancy created by the departure of Justice Mathias W. Delort on the First District Appellate court.
Ocasio had been slated by the Democratic Party as the party's preferred candidate to permanently be elected to replace Delort. He withdrew from that slate in August 2023.
But Ocasio's "until further notice" "assignment" - versus appointment - meant that Ocasio did not have to run as a candidate this November for Delort's vacancy, according to a report published on the "For What It's Worth" blog.
"This is indeed fortunate for Judge Ocasio, who just withdrew from the Democratic Party's county slate," the blog's author wrote at that time. "Only a couple of weeks ago, Ocasio was slated to be the Party's candidate for the vacancy to which he will now be assigned. Or, rather, sort of assigned. See, he will 'occupy' Justice Delort's 'position' in the Fifth Division of the First District and the cases that go with it. But, technically, he is not assigned to Justice Delort's forthcoming vacancy."
The blog further noted that Justice Mary Ellen Coghlan, also sitting by assignment at the First District, was "reassigned" to Delort's position - "the one that will be filled by election (in 2024)."
"...Justice Coghlan's assignment to the Appellate Court now carries with it an end date of December 2, 2024. But she keeps her present cases, while, technically, Judge Ocasio takes Coghlan's position on the Appellate Court.
"To stay on the Appellate Court after December 2, 2024, Justice Coghlan must run for, and win, election to one of the four vacancies up for election. Three of those vacancies are held by her similarly situated colleagues. They knew about their reassignments in time to seek, and obtain, slating by the Cook County Democratic Party for those vacancies. Not so with Justice Coghlan."
In judicial retention races, voters are asked "yes" or "no" on the question of retention. A judge must secure at least 60 percent of the vote to earn another term.
According to the Illinois State Board of Elections, Ocasio has not established a campaign finance committee this retention/election cycle.
However, his retention candidacy is backed by the political committee known as the Committee for Retention of Judges in Cook County, which collects campaign donations on behalf of judges seeking retention, collectively, and prints and distributes campaign material urging voters to vote yes on retention.
According to a biographic published on Ocasio's behalf by the Committee for Retention, Ocasio served as the first president of the Illinois Latino Judges Association in 2018.
About Ocasio, the bio says: "Injecting the presumption of mercy and other restorative justice principles into his deliberations, Judge Ocasio has earned a reputation of being fair and compassionate."