Winnebago County Judge Joe McGraw Elected Chief Judge; McGraw Acquitted McHenry County State's Attorney Lou Bianchi of Criminal Charges Twice in Directed Verdicts

Winnebago County Judge Joseph McGraw, who this year ruled in favor of McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi in two swift directed verdicts, has been elected to serve as Chief Judge for the 17th Circuit beginning Jan. 1, 2012 by an unanimous vote of circuit judges in Winnebago and Boone Counties.

Following Bianchi's first trial last March, Thomas McQueen, special prosecutor of Bianchi, requested that McGraw recuse himself because he had been paid by the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) -- the same agency which has been involved in multiple other aspects of Bianchi's case. The Chicago Tribune quoted McGraw, "These accusations...when considered in context, do not create even the appearance of impropriety."

Undaunted by allegations of conflicts of interest, McGraw refused to step down and the following week instructed at another ILSAAP seminar held in Naperville, billing taxpayers $3,125. 

McGraw acquitted Bianchi in a second directed verdict last August. Directed verdicts, considered unusual to occur even once, allowed Bianchi defense attorney Terry Ekl to win both trials without presenting any evidence. Bianchi opted for bench trials.

McGraw, a former assistant state's attorney, has received $21,529 from ILSAAP for seminar instruction since 2005 according to state documents. Another payment of $3,125 is expected to be made by the entity for seminar work in September 2011.

Same Tech Firm Examined Computers in High-Profile Cases Involving McHenry and Edgar Counties, Unreported Ties with DuPage County Brotherhood

McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi requested Protek, a high-tech-crime investigative firm, to search a computer hard-drive in October 2007 -- the beginning of a long saga of investigations and special prosecutions. Protek also had a role in retrieving emails of media consultants Reverse Spin in response to a court order in the ongoing Steidl-Whitlock federal civil lawsuit. Attorney Terry Ekl of DuPage County represents defendants in both cases.  

Protek's co-owner is a former DuPage County Assistant State's Attorney, the former first chief of the High Technology Crimes Bureau of the Illinois Attorney General's Office, and former counsel at Ekl's firm.  

Protek International, Inc., a Clarendon Hills-based firm specializing in investigations and advisory services related to cyber crime, inspected evidence from computer hard drives -- one in 2007, eventually becoming ground zero in several McHenry County special prosecutions, and the other in 2008, revealing an elaborate behind-the-scenes smear campaign against perceived threats in the Steidl-Whitlock federal civil lawsuits, including Medill Innocence Project and its former director, Prof. David Protess.

Protek's co-owner Keith Chval is a former assistant state's attorney in DuPage County from 1989 through 1996 under Jim Ryan and Joe Birkett. Chval then began working again for Ryan at the Illinois Attorney General's Office's High Technology Crimes Bureau, later holding the position of first chief. When he established Protek in 2005, he joined the law firm of Connolly, Ekl & Williams, P.C., also located in Clarendon Hills at that time. Terry Ekl represents defendants in theses cases involving Protek.

Protek & McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi 

In October 2007, McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi hired Protek to examine the contents of a hard drive in his office following a tip. "An unnamed informant" phoned the office's chief investigator Ron Salgado that a female employee "close to Bianchi" had transferred office computer files onto a jump or zip drive, accounts the article Daily Herald's Chuck Keeshan wrote after reviewing court records, "Bianchi's Office Knew of Files". Salgado was also Bianchi's campaign manager. 

Bianchi hired and paid Protek directly to analyze a hard drive from his office, instead of the conventional approach of going through the state's attorney's office. Later Bianchi sent the hard drive to the Illinois State Police and specifically requested Orland Park attorney David O'Connor be appointed special prosecutor to investigate the matter.

Targeting David Protess Six Years -- ARDC Complaint Latest Maneuver by the DuPage County Brotherhood

A complaint submitted last month to the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois (ARDC) makes strong accusations, not only against a former attorney of convicted killer Alstory Simon, but others as well. Most notable is David Protess, former director of the Medill Innocence Project at Northwestern University.

The ARDC complaint was filed exactly one week before the nationally-publicized ruling that Medill and Protess turn over their emails from the Anthony McKinney investigation to Cook County prosecutors involving another case.

This time, however, the drumbeat against Protess (and not so indirectly Medill) didn't bang from Cook County. Instead it came from from a small DuPage County band of brothers who have persistently targeted Protess for six years. 

The ARDC complaint was filed exactly one week before the nationally-publicized ruling that Medill and Protess turn over their emails from the Anthony McKinney investigation to Cook County prosecutors involving another case.

The DuPage Connections

DuPage County defense attorneys Terry Ekl and James Sotos currently represent Simon, whose confession of a 1982 double homicide in Chicago exonerated Anthony Porter in 1999. Simon is serving a 37-year sentence at the Danville Correctional Center. 

Just 50 hours away from lethal injection, Porter caught the attention of then-Gov. George Ryan who declared a moratorium on executions the following year. The former death row inmate unwittingly had become the catalyst for the moratorium and the movement to abolish the death penalty. Porter and those who worked to exonerate him, including the Medill Innocence Project, didn't sit well with certain groups -- particularly Illinois state's attorneys.

Ekl and Sotos, described by Chicago Tribune's Eric Zorn as "two lawyers cast in unlikely role as crusaders", developed a sudden interest in the plight of Simon shortly after Randy Steidl filed a wrongful conviction lawsuit in 2005. Steidl and Herb Whitlock had been convicted for the 1986 murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads in Paris, Ill. A similar lawsuit was filed by Whitlock following his release in 2008; the same court is hearing both cases.

Ekl's firm represents former Edgar County State's Attorney Michael McFatridge while Sotos' firm represents the city of Paris. With the potential to be among the largest wrongful conviction verdicts in Illinois history, the Steidl-Whitlock cases have state, county and local entities worried. The trial is scheduled for January.  

Whose Side Is He On? Prominent Illinois Press Attorney Donald Craven Worked for the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor

Well-known Illinois media attorney Donald Craven received over $50,000 from ILSAAP starting in December 2008. During this time, Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez was embroiled in a nationally-publicized subpoena dispute with the Medill Innocence Project and Northwestern Prof. David Protess. Medill and Protess were also targets of a smear campaign in an ongoing wrongful conviction lawsuit. State records show Craven performed legal services for ILSAAP in this same lawsuit.

Illinois media attorney Donald Craven of Springfield was paid $51,300 by the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) for roughly 250 hours of legal services from December 2008 through June 2010. ILSAAP was created to provide services to state's attorneys including appellate cases, certain drug-related cases and special prosecutions. (725 ILCS 210) 

Craven serves as general counsel to the Illinois Press Association, the Illinois Broadcasters Association and the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. According to his website, his expertise includes subpoenas compelling journalists to testify and turn over notes, tapes and photographs that were not published or broadcast.

While Craven worked for ILSAAP, Cook County State's Attorney and ILSAAP Board of Governors member Anita Alvarez was embroiled in a subpoena dispute with the Medill Innocence Project and Prof. David Protess over notes and other materials related to the Northwestern students' investigation of Anthony McKinney. McKinney had been convicted in a 1978 shotgun slaying in Harvey. Briefs submitted by Alvarez' office contained legal arguments with multiple citations of media law.

Medill has investigated over 50 cases, leading to the exoneration of 12 people -- five of whom had been sentenced to death. New York Times media writer David Carr wrote, "The students who worked on the McKinney case were probably not expecting a thank-you note from prosecutors, but they weren’t expecting a subpoena either."

After a power struggle lasting over two years, Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Cannon, a former assistant state's attorney, ruled last week that emails between Protess and the Medill students should be turned over to prosecutors.

  

Craven was quoted in news articles regarding this nationally publicized tug-of-war, including the Chicago Tribune: "They're either trying to undermine the investigation, or they're trying to undermine the entire project," and the New York Times: "Take to its logical conclusion, what they're trying to do is dismantle the project."

Below the Radar in Edgar County -- Mutual Interests of Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor and Others Working in McHenry County on High-Profile Cases

Same January 2008 Day ILSAAP Media Consultants Met Quietly with McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi in Itasca, Another Fire was Burning Down State -- the Release of Herb Whitlock from Prison. Whitlock's Ongoing Cases of Interest to Same People Working Now in McHenry County on High-Profile Cases.

Late in 2007, the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP), the Agency's contracted media consultants, and DuPage County defense attorneys Terry Ekl and James Sotos had mutual interests in a white-haired man sitting in a cell in the Danville Correction Center.

Herb Whitlock, after serving 21 years in prison for the murders of Dyke and Karen Rhoads of Paris, IL, was about to be released. A 53-page decision by the 4th District Illinois Appellate Court was unanimous in granting a new trial for Whitlock, ruling that evidence favorable to his defense had been suppressed. The deadline for ILSAAP special prosecutors Chuck Colburn and Michael Vujovich to pull together a new trial was quickly approaching.

Minutes from the Dec. 5, 2007 ILSAAP Board of Governors meeting mentioned that Vujovich had traveled with Illinois State Police officers to Orlando to meet with a key witness not previously interviewed regarding the 1986 double homicide. ILSAAP special prosecutors David Rands and Ed Parkinson would be consulting because of their previous involvement in the case.

On Jan. 4, 2008, ILSAAP filed a highly-publicized Motion to Nolle Prosequi Without Prejudice for the release of Whitlock, signed by Colburn and Vujovich. While it provided freedom, there was no finality. The motion charged that Whitlock remained under suspicion and required additional investigation. Eric Zorn of the Chicago Tribune referred to ILSAAP's motion as "peevish" and "a shot of slime." "The idea that prosecutors still need more time to investigate one of the most investigated and repeatedly re-investigated crimes in state history is nonsense," he wrote. 

Widespread press quotes of Colburn and Vujovich on the prisoner's release reinforced ILSAAP's stand that Whitlock and his former co-defendant, Gordon "Randy" Steidl were perpetual suspects. 

Among the numerous media outlets reporting the special prosecutors' remarks was the Terre Haute Tribune Star. It quoted Vujovich: "Two people were viciously murdered and we are still committed to getting to the bottom of this case. We have always believed that the two suspects that were convicted -- Mr. Steidl and Mr. Whitlock -- were responsible for the death of those two individuals."

Together, ILSAAP's motion and press quotes may have later served as protection for a defendant or defendants in wrongful conviction lawsuits represented by Ekl and Sotos, as well as deflecting attention from other potential suspects -- suspects Whitlock and Steidl claim had motive for murder.

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Bianchi in Daily Herald's Campaign Forum the Day After Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor "Game Changers" Provided Press Assistance

ILSAAP "Game Changers" Met with McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi in Third Itasca Visit About "Press-Related Issues" the Day Before Two-Hour Grilling by Daily Herald's Editorial Board in Campaign Forum with Primary Opponent. Also Approximate Date Special Prosecutors Charged that Bianchi Had Met with His Office Managers to Prepare Him for Same Endorsement Meeting; Bianchi Later Acquitted.

Reverse Spin, which renamed itself Delos Communications, contracted media consultants for the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP), "met with McHenry County State's Attorney Lou Bianchi and several other individuals in Itasca about various press-related issues within his office" on Jan. 8, 2008 -- the day before a scheduled campaign endorsement forum by Daily Herald newspaper's editorial board, according to the vendor's activity report submitted with an invoice charging the Agency.

Coincidentally, Jan. 7 was the approximate date special prosecutors Henry Tonigan and Thomas McQueen charged that Bianchi had met with the state's attorney's office managers to prepare him for an election endorsement meeting with the Daily Herald newspaper; Bianchi was later acquitted. The media consultants had stated that they had also talked several times to Bianchi during this period. (See timeline below)

The newspaper's endorsement was a concern for the state's attorney. Bianchi had been recently criticized for alleged political activity at the government office and for excessive reimbursement requests for meals and treats for himself and staff on the tax-payer's dime. Local law enforcement were backing his opponent, Dan Regna. Several weeks after the forum, the Daily Herald published its endorsement for Regna.

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ILSAAP "Game Changers" Activity in McHenry & Winnebago Counties in November 2007...Crossing the Line?

November 2007 activity reports from the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) raise questions as to the nature of "extensive" contracted media consultation performed for McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi and former Winnebago County State's Attorney Phil Nicolosi.

Curry Public Strategies of Wheaton secured a nine-month contract with ILSAAP starting the previous month, which was to include assisting state's attorneys on crisis management advice on high profile cases. These consultants would later morph into Reverse Spin and describe themselves as political "operatives" and "game changers".

"In November 2007," the consultants reported, "I consulted extensively with two State's Attorneys -- by phone, email and in person."

No ILSAAP work product of the media consultants is available that month. By correlating dates and events listed in activity reports with media stories published at the time, however, there is potential that some of their tax-paid services may have overlapped into political and/or personal legal matters of state's attorneys and candidates Bianchi and Nicolosi.

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Meanwhile...Down in Kane County, Unpublished ILSAAP Ties in Ongoing Prosecution of Coroner Chuck West

Former Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti Has Served on the Board of Governors of the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor and Has Earned $31,400 from the Agency Since 2007. Said Appointed Attorneys Chuck Colburn and David O'Connor Would Be "Independent" and "Avoid Conflict of Interest" in Ongoing Prosecution of Kane County Coroner Chuck West.

In purported efforts to avoid conflicts of interest, potentially worse conflicts of interest were created when two men associated with the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) were appointed to engage in adversarial roles in the ongoing prosecution of County Coroner Chuck West.

Former Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti, appointed to the 16th Judicial Circuit last December, turned over the investigation of West's alleged misconduct to ILSAAP special prosecutor Chuck Colburn in October 2009, as the state's attorney's office represents the coroner's office. 

Barsanti referred to this transfer as "independent" and avoiding a "conflict of interest" in quotes to the local media.

From 2008 through 2010, Barsanti was serving on the ILSAAP Board of Governors; minutes show Barsanti and Colburn attending the same Board meetings. Prior to being elected state's attorney in 2004, Barsanti had served as an ILSAAP special prosecutor for four years. 

State records also affirm that Barsanti has been paid $31,400 from ILSAAP since 2007; much of it shown as instructor's fees for seminars. (See all vouchers following article)

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Bianchi a Top Media Priority of Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor Starting October 2007

ILSAAP Began "Extensive" Contracted Media Consulting for McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi on Oct. 1, 2007. Two Days Later, Bianchi's Chief Investigator and Campaign Manager Received Phone Call from "An Unnamed Informant" About Former Employee's Transferred Computer Files.

The Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) began extensive, but quiet, contracted media consulting for McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi starting Oct. 1, 2007, according to an activity report submitted by Curry Public Strategies of Wheaton who would later describe themselves as "game changers".

Two days after the consulting kicked off, "an unnamed informant" phoned the state's attorney chief investigator Ron Salgado that a female employee "close to Bianchi" had transferred office computer files onto a jump or zip drive, accounts the article Daily Herald's Chuck Keeshan wrote after examining court records, "Bianchi's Office Knew of Files". Salgado was also Bianchi's campaign manager.

The first week of August 2007, Woodstock attorney Dan Regna announced his candidacy to unseat Bianchi in the upcoming primary. He criticized the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s office, “labeling it a ‘political command post’ for Bianchi and his top advisors".

Three weeks later, a special meeting of the ILSAAP Board of Governors held in Springfield included a detailed discussion of contracting Curry Public Strategies, led by Board Vice Chairman Joe Birkett. Citizens to Elect Joe Birkett had paid the consultants over $55,000 for campaign communications prior to this discussion. The Board unanimously voted for the contract three weeks later following a presentation of the firm's proposal. 

Board minutes reported a remark from Curry Public Strategies' proposal made several weeks before the assistance began in McHenry County: "Occasionally, a state's attorney knows something bad is coming out, or something is going to be portrayed as bad will come out...in that event the tactic to be used may be to aggressively pre-empt the prospective bad publicity by putting a positive spin on the case."

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ILSAAP Vice Chairman Joe Birkett Steered Agency Contracts to His Political "Game Changer" Consultants

While serving as vice chairman of the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) Board of Governors, Illinois Second District Appellate Court Justice Joe Birkett advocated two annual Agency contracts in 2007 and 2008 for his political "game changer" consultants who then provided him with extensive one-on-one tax-paid work.

ILSAAP contracted Reverse Spin of Wheaton from January 2008 through June 2009 for media consulting. Reverse Spin is co-owned by Dan Curry and John Pearman, self-dubbed as "game changers". Reverse Spin renamed itself Delos Communications, claiming it was after the Greek Isle; coincidentally, Delos is the middle name of one of the purveyors. From October through December 2007, the state agency had contracted with Reverse Spin's predecessor, Curry Public Strategies. 

According to detailed Board minutes, these contracts were ushered in by the ILSAAP vice chairman. Activity reports submitted to ILSAAP with invoices show Reverse Spin devoted considerable one-on-one tax-paid time with their political clients -- DuPage County State's Attorney Birkett and McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi. 

ILSAAP Board of Governors first discussed hiring the media consultants at a special board meeting held Aug. 30, 2007. The Board minutes read: "Board Member Haida cautioned that the client base of the media consultant should not include any entity or person who would be in conflict with the interests of prosecutors."

Yet, the political consultants' campaign work for Birkett was never brought up in the copious minutes as a potential conflict of interest in the initial 2007 contract or its renewal the following year.

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Shadowy Illinois State's Attorneys Association Filed Amicus Curiae Brief for Client of Bianchi's Attorney

Association Closely Affiliated with State Agency Representing McHenry County in Illinois Appellate Court Case Objecting Payment to Bianchi's Special Prosecutors Recently Supported Public Payment of Legal Fees for Ekl's Client -- Former Edgar County State's Attorney -- by Filing "Friend of the Court" Brief

The Illinois State's Attorneys Association filed an an amicus curiae "friend of the court" brief on Sept. 22, 2010 supporting public payment of legal fees for former Edgar County State's Attorney Michael McFatridge involved in ongoing high-profile federal civil lawsuits, represented by Terry Ekl, according to court documents.

Ekl is also the attorney for McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi. Bianchi was indicted ten days prior to this filing.

Board minutes report that the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) Board of Governors unanimously approved the filing of this brief by the Association, a non-profit corporation closely affiliated with ILSAAP apparently not subject to the Freedom of Information Act and the Open Meetings Act. 

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