Results tagged “corrections”

). Even less fun is rotting away in a cell for almost 26 years for a crime you didn’t commit. Now imagine that the key to your freedom was sitting the entire time locked in a box in a lawyer’s office, who couldn’t reveal it due to attorney-client privilege. That’s exactly what happened to Alton Logan. Logan, now age 54, was arrested in 1982 for the murder of a security guard at a south side McDonald’s in a robbery gone wrong. He was identified by witnesses along with Edgar Hope. A few days later, as police were hunting down Andrew and Jackie Wilson for an unrelated murder of two officers, a raid on Andrew’s suspected hiding place turned up a shotgun that tested positive as the gun used in the McDonald’s shooting. But since only two men were involved in the robbery and police conveniently had two men already in custody, charges were never filed against Andrew Wilson in that case. You might remember Wilson -- his allegations of being tortured by Jon Burge and two detectives started the snowball that led to Burge’s firing and a $1 million award by the court. But the plot twists even further -- public defenders Dale Coventry and Jamie Kunz, representing Wilson in the police shooting, received word that Hope was claiming Logan had nothing to do with the McDonald’s murder, and was pointing the finger at Wilson. When Coventry and Kunz confronted Wilson he admitted to being the trigger man. Wilson agreed to allow the lawyers to prepare a notarized affidavit of his confession, but it could only be revealed after his death. The affidavit has sat sealed in a metal box in Coventry’s office ever since. Andrew Wilson just died in November of last year -- Coventry and Kunz have now come forward with the new information, and Logan’s attorney is motioning for a new trial. Logan’s case is an example of how our justice system is for the most part effective, but far from perfect. The evidence to help exonerate someone in prison is just sitting around next to back issues of the , and there’s nothing anyone can do about it. Even if Coventry and Kunz didn’t care about reprimands and losing their license for breaking the attorney-client privilege, because of that privilege the affidavit would be inadmissible, anyway. At least that’s our hope, as the thought of these two men sacrificing Logan just for the sake of their careers is unfathomable. Can any of our law degree toting readers confirm this? [Trib]

Jaylnn Hall, 4, died early yesterday morning after her 15-year-old brother shot her in the chest, apparently accidentally. Her mother, whose name hasn't been released, is a Cook County corrections officer, and the 9mm handgun used in the shooting is her "duty weapon," which corrections officers are allowed to carry outside of jail. The mom was at work at the time of the shooting, and she's been "de-deputized," which is standard procedure according to...

Jeffrey Rush, son of Congressman Bobby Rush, was fired from his job as an assistant supervisor of security at the Fox Valley Adult Transition Center following allegations that he had sex with two female inmates. Fox Valley ATC is Level 8 security — that's the least severe, on a scale from 1 (maximum) to 8 (transitional), and it's not uncommon for inmates to leave the facility for work, counseling, school, or as a reward for...

Ever since Frank Kruesi got kicked to the curb back in April, we’ve been nothing short of elated. We looked forward to a new reign of … whatever the opposite of ineptitude is. (Eptitude?) With time comes sobriety, as the usual problems have started cropping up once more. Two trains shutting down in one week? Bad form. Honestly, though, we weren’t expecting that kind of mechanical stuff to be cleared up overnight, especially when the...

Rep. Bobby Rush and two co-sponsors introduced a bill to the U.S. House of Representatives in January that would allow groups to hand out condoms to inmates. The Tribune reports that inmates are 5 times more likely to contract HIV than others. A similar bill was struck down by an Illinois State House committee 6-5 on Thursday, leaving the controversial and unpopular issue in the hands of the U.S. Senate. The AIDS foundation of Chicago,...

In Monday's "First Look" review at Hi Tea, the tea shop recently opened at 14 E. 11th St., Chicagoist mistakenly identified Heather Horner as a partner with John Daley and Dino and Tom Bezanes. Ms. Horner is a manager at Hi Tea. The fourth partner in Hi Tea is Andy Pappas. We apologize and regret the error; the original post will reflect these corrections, as well....

Motorola is the corporate brand rated most valuable in Chicago. Boeing came in 2nd, McDonalds 3rd, Walgreens 4th and Caterpiller came in 5th. The IL Assn. of Realtors reports that home prices in the area kept climbing during the 1st quarter even though sales of houses and condos were down. Sun-Times has an interesting look at how the neighborhoods of Portage Park, Uptown, Lakeview, Near South Side, and West Lawn are changing. Salvador "Tony"...

The Blagojevich administration took another hit yesterday as it was served with a fourth round of subpoenas in a federal investigation regarding its hiring practices. The latest subpoena focuses on the personnel records of the Department of Corrections dating back to March of 2002 when squeaky clean George Ryan was still governor. This follows previous subpoenas seeking similar information from the Department of Children and Family Services and the Department of Transportation. There is...

Wondering how you can make the $100 left in your checking account stretch far enough to pay for groceries and the new iPod nano? Thinking that maybe you can pay just the minimum on this month’s Visa bill so you have enough drinking money for the weekend? Well, get in line buddy. Cook County commissioners learned on Tuesday that the budget deficit for 2006 could rise to over $300 million. Ouch. This is nearly...

We think it could be an interesting case, especially because it seems that it may be difficult for Calabrese to prove that the Trib published the photo maliciously, with reckless disregard for the truth, as the correction is now ALL OVER the news.

We should really be a headline writer. Isn't this one killer? Get it? "Killer"? Oh wait, since you only get your news from Chicagoist you wouldn't get it because you haven't heard or read anything about the story yet. So, ladies and gentlemen, without further ado, the story of a prank gone wrong in Calumet City. An off-duty Cook County corrections officer shot and killed another officer, his friend, around 1:12 a.m. Saturday. The friend,...

3. Poi Dog Pondering: You guys are still around? You’re having a busy little week, aren’t you.