Illinois

Fourth person pleads guilty in scam that allegedly cost BigLaw firm $7M

A phony invoice scheme that allegedly bilked the Vedder Price law firm out of $7 million has produced another guilty plea. The fourth and final defendant, Deborah Acuna, 63, of Oak Brook, Illinois, pleaded guilty last week, the Daily Herald and the Am Law Daily (sub. req.) report. She was…

Aug 31, 2016 9:00 AM CDT

Staff attorney is fired after she is accused of wearing judge’s robes and ruling on cases

A staff attorney who is accused of wearing a judge’s robes and ruling on cases is no longer employed in her $57,000-a-year job at a suburban Chicago courthouse. The staff attorney and law clerk, Rhonda Crawford, “is no longer employed” in her job, according to a statement released on Tuesday…

Aug 30, 2016 1:24 PM CDT

Chicago police have shot 262 people in 6 years; about 80% were black men, newspaper reports

Chicago police have been involved 435 shootings over the last six years, killing 92 and wounding an additional 170. And four out of five people shot by Chicago police officers have been African-American males. Those were the main findings from a study conducted by the Chicago Tribune which was published…

Aug 26, 2016 3:25 PM CDT

Judge rules for artist Peter Doig, who says ‘Pete Doige’ painting once valued at $10M wasn’t his

A federal judge in Chicago has ruled against a painting owner who sued the artist Peter Doig for declaring he didn’t create the artwork. U.S. District Judge Gary Feinerman ruled on Tuesday against the artwork owner, Robert Fletcher, who said Doig’s declaration caused the value of painting to plummet. At…

Aug 24, 2016 10:36 AM CDT

Judge is removed from bench for allegedly letting a lawyer wear her robe and rule in some cases

A suburban Chicago judge was removed from the bench on Wednesday after allegations surfaced that she let a lawyer wear her robe and rule in at least two of her cases. Judge Valarie Turner was removed and reassigned to administrative duties, report the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times and CBS…

Aug 17, 2016 4:36 PM CDT

Former Illinois Gov. Blagojevich apologizes, but his new sentence is the same as the old one

A federal judge in Chicago was apparently unmoved by the apology from former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich during his resentencing for political corruption on Tuesday. U.S. District Judge James Zagel sided with prosecutors who recommended a sentence of 14 years in prison, the Chicago Tribune reports. It is the same…

Aug 9, 2016 12:32 PM CDT

Lawyer alleges a cover-up after seeing ‘horrific’ video in police shooting of black teen

The lawyer for a black teen shot and killed by Chicago police last month said a partial video of the incident released today is “one of the most horrific things I have seen.” Lawyer Michael Oppenheimer spoke on Friday about the video in the fatal police shooting of 18-year-old Paul…

Aug 5, 2016 12:16 PM CDT

Man accused of slapping judge in smoking dispute is acquitted of hate crime, battery

A white man accused of spitting on and slapping an elderly African-American judge in Chicago in a dispute over her smoking has been acquitted in a bench trial. The Cook County judge who acquitted David Nicosia on Wednesday, Judge James Obbish, said he didn’t believe Nicosia would have been charged…

Aug 4, 2016 11:21 AM CDT

Ex-cop Drew Peterson gets 40-year sentence in plot on prosecutor’s life

Former suburban Chicago police officer Drew Peterson was sentenced to 40 years in prison on Friday for trying to solicit the murder of the prosecutor who put him behind bars for killing his third wife. Peterson addressed the court for at least 25 minutes before he was sentenced for plotting…

Jul 29, 2016 4:11 PM CDT

Special prosecutor will probe possible cover-up in shooting by Chicago officer charged with murder

A special prosecutor has been named to investigate whether Chicago police officers covered up wrongdoing by a police officer later charged with murder in the shooting death of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. Former Cook County judge Patricia Brown Holmes will serve as special prosecutor, report the Chicago Tribune, the Chicago Sun-Times…

Jul 29, 2016 11:31 AM CDT

Police body cams didn’t shut off, invading officers’ privacy, federal lawsuit says

Police in a suburban Chicago village recently filed a federal civil rights action about department body cameras, which reportedly made recordings without their knowledge. The recordings were viewed over a seven-month period, the Daily Herald reports, and the lawsuit (PDF) alleges that the devices continued to record while turned off…

Jun 27, 2016 4:00 PM CDT

Man pleads guilty in auto crash, then sues city alleging police siren and lights distracted him

A man who pleaded guilty to reckless driving in a suburban Chicago accident that injured multiple people last year is now pursuing a lawsuit over the crash. William Kivit, now 21, contends in the complaint he filed last month in Cook County Circuit Court that Park Ridge is to blame…

Jun 14, 2016 5:22 PM CDT

Amidst claims ICE should do more to ID lawful residents, detained citizen wins $20K award

Complex U.S. immigration laws and relatively minimal standards for detaining those suspected of violating them cause hundreds of American citizens and thousands of legal residents to be held without appropriate basis, advocates say. Some of those held don’t even know themselves that they are American citizens, making it difficult for…

Jun 13, 2016 6:00 AM CDT

Illinois attorney general sues Jimmy John’s over noncompete clauses for low-wage workers

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan claims in a lawsuit that Jimmy John’s sandwich restaurants are violating state law by requiring low-wage workers to sign restrictive noncompete agreements. The suit filed on Wednesday in Cook County says it is intended to prevent the sandwich chain from continuing to require the noncompete…

Jun 10, 2016 8:45 AM CDT

Man exits news conference about his lawsuit over police shooting, is arrested for murder

On Wednesday, Dominiq Greer filed a federal lawsuit against Chicago police over a 2014 shooting in which he was hit by seven bullets during a foot chase. Later the same day, during a news conference in his lawyer’s office, Greer said he has never been accused of a violent crime.…

Jun 9, 2016 1:50 PM CDT