Collins, Gallagher, Levitt and MacCarthy all to be sworn in as Circuit Court Judges

Ann Finley Collins  Levitt for JudgeDaniel Gallagher

Ann Finley Collins (HTF), Daniel J. Gallagher (FTD), Mark Levitt (HTF) and Terry MacCarthy (Sup – 26thST) all won their elections on November 2nd, 2010 and will be donning judicial robes within a few weeks.  The membership is very proud of these fine additions to the bench in Cook County and Lake County (Levitt).

While Collins and MacCarthy had no opposition, Gallagher soundly defeated his opponent, Maureen Masterson Pulia by over 90,00 votes.  Levitt, who campaigned strong throughout the summer and fall, won by a razor thin margin of about .75%.

On behalf of the local, congratulations to our brothers and sister!

SURVEILLANCE LOCATION MUST BE REVEALED IF “RELEVANT AND HELPFUL” TO THE DEFENSE AT TRIAL

In a case likely to effect many trials involving surveillance testimony, our Appellate Court by JUSTICE (now Supreme Court Justice) THEIS overturned the conviction of Robert Price by finding plain error when the trial court sustained the State’s objections to questions by defense counsel regarding the exact location of the surveillance officer in a common fact pattern case of PCS/W. JUSTICE THEIS finds that, “due process requires at trial the defendant need only show that the location is ‘relevant and helpful to the defense of an accused, or is essential to the fair determination of a cause’ in order to overcome the privilege.”  [ Practice Point ] The court’s discussion of the burdens of proof on this issue seems to call into question the current practice of requiring the defense to file a motion to disclose surveillance location before trial.  Make sure you read this very helpful opinion, People v. Robert Price, No. 1-07-2223 First District, Second Division, 8/31/10.

AFSCME and the Office Join Forces to Block Access to Employee Evaluations

News from Legislative Liason for the Office, Steven Baker:

The Office of the Cook County Public Defender will join with Council 31 during the upcoming veto session, in opposition to the Governor’s Amendatory Veto of HB5154.  Public employees should be “all in” or “all out” on the quesion of access to “performance evaluations.”  Records of actual discipline okay, not grievance procedures or evaluations.

Bill link below.

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/billstatus.asp?DocNum=5154&GAID=10&GA=96&DocTypeID=HB&LegID=50089&SessionID=76

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Early Autumn Update

Summer’s over and we are now gearing up for an exciting and challenging Fall.   Here is an update on some things we have been talking about in the past and a look at some topics that are important to you.

Survey  

I know that many of the members thought that the office made a poor and insulting attempt at ascertaing the issues in this office  by distributing the infamous survey.  I agree.  (I also found out that  the survey was not written by  a subcommittee of the Public Defender’s advisory board.)  But  I think that it is still a good idea  to candidly communicate with management about issues that interfere with our mission: to provide the finest legal representation to the indigent accused in Cook County.  To that end, please email any ideas or suggestions you have to board@cookcountypd.org   As I said earlier in a flash message sent to the members on our email burst list, the executive board met with top management including Judge Cunningham to express our collective disappointment and concern over the content and quality of the survey.  We meet again with management on 10/22/10 and would like to share any other thoughts or suggestions the members have to make the office an even more professional environment.

Negotiations 

Council 31 received on 9/30/2010 the arbitrator’s decision from the interest arbitration that AFSCME and the County engaged in over the four Sheriff’s locals and the results were that the arbitrator chose AFSCME’s offer because it was right and fair.  (The terms have been sent to everyone on the email burst list.  Not on the list?  Send an email to board@cookcountypd.org and include your name and worksite.  We will not add any cookcountyil.gov addresses (those are the county email addresses that are assigned to all county employees), so make sure you send us your personal email address.)

Contract negotiations with our local and the County resume on October 13, 2010.

The County’s finances are always an issue because how much money the County really has and how much the County says it has are definitely two different things.  Who will win the November 2nd election for County Board President? Will that individual increase, maintain or decrease the current County sales tax?  Will the hospital finally collect more of the monies it is owed?  These and other questions will determine how things will shape up for next year and as you can imagine, the situation is fluid and dynamic.  Rest assured that when the executive board knows more about the situation, we will share it with the membership in a timely manner.

Politics 

I can’t tell you who to vote for but  I can tell you that even though this is not a presidential election year, it is the year that we will choose not only our governor but also our U.S. Senator and also County Board Commissioners and President not to mention, Judges.  These elections are not meant for us to ignore and sit on the sidelines.  Every member of this local, at a minimum, should vote.  The governor’s race will have an impact on our pension plan, funding for Cook County and the generation of more revenue to meet the budget shortfall that is now inching closer to $14 Billion;  the Senate race will impact many of the agenda items set out by Barack Obama;  and the County Board President’s race will determine many things that will affect this office in terms of resources. 

Ideally, you should volunteer and work on a campaign.  Brother Joseph Gump (Executive-at-large; RM; PEOPLE chair) is on another leave from the office so he can devote weeks to the upcoming election.  If you would like to volunteer for AFSCME endorsed candidates by phone banking, canvassing, getting out the vote or working on election day as a pollwatcher, please email board@cookcountypd.org and we will forward the email to him.

A final reminder, the last day to register to vote or change address or registration for the election on 11/2/2010  is Tuesday, October 5, 2010.  Make sure you are registered to vote!

Local Trustee Election Reminder 

In case you missed all the notices, Kevin Ochalla and Rosa Silva are squaring off in a runoff election to be held at 2650 S. California on Tuesday, October 12, 2010 at the 7th Floor Library from 3:00 to 4:30 pm.

Know Your Rights

It is ironic that sometimes the people who are best at defending the accused do such a pitiful job representing themselves.  Please note that if you are called by a supervisor into a meeting or “counseling session”, AND you even remotely think that the meeting or session may lead to your being disciplined or some other adverse action, then you are entitled to union representation.   This right, codified in our contract in section 11.5 comes from the language in NLRB v. J. Weingarten, Inc., 420 U.S. 251 (1975). 

In order for an employee to receive Weingarten protection, they must first ask for a union
steward or representative.  After this request is made, management  has three options: 1) grant the request and delay questions until a steward arrives; 2) deny the request and end the investigatory interview; or 3) give the employee the choice of a) continuing without a steward or b) ending the interview. If management denies the request for a steward and continues with the interview, then management  has violated the terms of our contract and a timely grievance should be filed.

Odds and Ends

If you are a Facebooker, make sure to friend our local’s page.  The page is full of great links, photos and quick announcements that don’t always make it to this website.  Not on Facebook?  Well, it’s almost worth it to join Facebook, just to become a fan of our page.

We had six new lawyers started in our office last month.  Here is a picture from their Local 3315 orientation.  Please welcome them.  They are all MVPs and full members!  Two new hires (not pictured below) have slipped through the cracks and the Board will be catching up with them as soon as possible.

In Solidarity,

K.S. Galhotra

RARE “TIME CUT” ORDERED DUE TO TRIAL COURT’S NEGLECT OF DUTY

Defendant Laquita Calhoun and some friends beat to death one Alonzo Jones because they thought Jones had molested Calhoun’s child.   Associate Judge Stanley Sacks sentenced Laquita Calhoun to the maximum sentence of 60 years IDOC for murder and 7 years consecutive for kidnapping after a jury trial, finding that he had “never seen a more horrendous vicious crime than this one.”  In a thoughtful opinion by JUSTICE JOSEPH GORDON, our Appellate Court ordered a new sentencing hearing, and in a rare statement, recommended that a proper sentence on remand be “the minimal sentencing level for first degree murder.”  The Appellate Court implied that the trial court  had “neglected its duty to consider the relevant mitigating factors.”  These factors included “defendant’s undeniably strong provocation, her lack of any venial criminal record, and the manifest unlikelihood of any repetition of this crime…”  Click this link to read the case of People v Laquita Calhoun, No. 1-07-0266, First Dist., Fifth Div., 9/10/2010.

UNUSUAL SUCCESSFUL CHALLENGE TO A WARRANT

Suppose evidence was seized from your client during the execution of a signed search warrant and further suppose that you do not have a Franks issue. You might think its time to move on to a plea or trial but wait!  If the sworn complaint for search warrant did not set out a showing of probable cause you can challenge the search and win if your judge follows the reasoning of trial court Thomas Tucker and Appellate Justices GARCIA and PATTI  in People v Martinez S. Lenyoun, (1st District., 1st., Division   No. 1-06-3696  6/28/10). But wait! Where does the 3rd Justice stand….with the State. That would be Justice LAMPKIN. Read the interesting majority opinion and Justice LAMPKIN’s dissenting opinion by clicking this link.
 

INADMISSIBLE PRIOR LEADS TO REMAND IN BENCH TRIAL

Chicago Police Detective Johnson testified in a bench trial before the Hon. Lawrence Fox (Ret.) that he saw defendant David Sanchez throw a bag of cocaine out of an apartment window. Sanchez testified that he had no cocaine in his apartment or that he threw it out the window. The parties stipulated to the prior conviction of the defendant. The Hon. Judge Fox (Ret.), in resolving the credibility issue, made mention of the Sanchez’s prior conviction twice before resolving the credibility issue against Sanchez.  Turns out that the prior was outside of the ten year limit of Montgomery. Our Appellate Court, by Justice HOFFMAN remands for a new trial, finding that defense counsel’s stipulation to this prior constituted ineffective assistance of counsel because “we are unable to discern any valid strategic reason for trial counsel’s failure to object to the admission” of the inadmissible prior. The Appellate Court also makes clear that the ten year time begins from the time the defendant is released from prison not from MSR. Read all about it in People v David Sanchez, No. 1-08-3458 (1st Dist., 2nd Div., 8/31/10).
 
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Run-off Election for Trustee

NOTICE:

What?

There will be a run-off election held to determine who will be one of three Trustees for Local 3315. The Trustee’s term will be two years in duration.

Who?

The candidates listed in alphabetical order are:

Kevin Ochalla, and

Rosa Silva.

When and Where?

The election will be held on October 12, 2010 at 2650 S. California in the Library on the 7th floor. Voting will be by secret ballot and will be open from 3:00 pm through 4:30 pm. The count will proceed immediately following.

Please, come out to support your candidate.

Empirical Study Proves What We’ve Known Along: PDs Do it Just as Well As Private Attorneys

We all knew that assistant public defenders in Cook County get results that are just as good as the privates, but now a study, released by Richard Hartley, a researcher at University of Texas – San Antonio, has the data to back it up.  Hartley and his team studied 2850 cases in Cook County and found that the results public defenders got were just as good as the ones the private attorneys got.  The study also showed that of the 2850 cases they looked at, 91% were handled by public defenders.  For more stories on the study, follow these links:

http://www.miller-mccune.com/legal-affairs/public-defenders-as-effective-as-private-attorneys-21292/

http://www.abajournal.com/weekly/article/public_defenders_are_just_as_effective_as_private_counsel_study_says

Now tell us something we don’t know.

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