Conviction Integrity
As I talk with voters in every corner of Lake County, one topic comes up over and over again — wrongful convictions. In the last 18 months, a series of prominent cases prosecuted by the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office have fallen apart amid charges of wrongful convictions. In many cases, DNA evidence has appeared to exonerate defendants, even at early stages of prosecution, yet has been ignored or downplayed.
These cases have massive consequences, not just for those who were imprisoned, but for all of us taxpayers facing multi-million dollar lawsuits, as well as for the safety of people inside and outside Lake County. It is not surprising that this is the biggest issue on voters’ minds.
What is surprising, however, is that no real steps have been taken to solve this problem. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s office has been occupied by one party for 32 years and clearly needs new solutions, an outsider’s perspective, and proven leadership to make sure the public is protected from the type of prosecutorial practices we see today.
On my first day as State’s Attorney, I will get to the heart of this problem by creating a Conviction Integrity Unit. This Unit will correct and prevent wrongful convictions, while also preventing further crimes.
This is what the Unit would do:
- Independently investigate and make recommendations on certain challenged convictions, with full authority to test evidence if necessary; the State’s Attorney should stop resisting testing and follow evidence wherever it leads;
- Prosecute cold cases where evidence suggests different, or additional, perpetrators; and
- Oversee ongoing cases, investigations, and training to ensure that evidence is properly collected, tested and evaluated at the earliest opportunity in every case.
In addition to investigations initiated by the State’s Attorney, the Conviction Integrity Unit may also review claims made by or on behalf of a convicted defendant who presents a meaningful, substantive claim of actual innocence. The Unit will also review and oversee procedures and training of Assistant State’s Attorneys and investigators in the proper collection and testing of evidence, best practice interrogation techniques and recording protocols, case assessment, and disclosure obligations. A special focus of this training will be on preventing errors due to misidentification by eyewitnesses, false testimony by incentivized witnesses (i.e., “jailhouse snitches”), and false confessions.
The Conviction Integrity Unit would consist of a prosecutor without any ties to the original convictions, who would report directly to me and work with a senior investigator, who also has no ties to the cases. The Conviction Integrity Unit would additionally utilize the advice of an outside advisory board comprised of leading experts in criminal justice, including legal scholars and former prosecutors, who would voluntarily serve and advise on best practices. Unlike other ideas being floated, this advisory board would not make determinations or review specific cases. Potential conflicts of interest and other ethical and practical issues simply make that proposal unrealistic and ineffective.
Studies published in the past decade have shown how wrongful convictions can come about—and how prosecutors can help prevent them. We can and must do better. The Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office should be a model for best practices, instead of an example of what can go wrong.
Only by honestly assessing the causes of these problems and confronting them head-on, can we prevent them from being repeated. I believe my Conviction Integrity Unit will drive systemic institutional reform and cultural change in the State’s Attorney’s office to embrace best practices in the prosecution of criminal cases—serious, smart improvements, which will raise the level of professionalism in the justice system, bolster public confidence in the prosecutor’s office and, ultimately, help increase public safety.
We need to move beyond the missteps of the past and become a model for fair justice.
Chris Kennedy is a Libertyville attorney and Democratic candidate for Lake County State's Attorney. For more information about Chris’s Blueprint for Justice, visit www.chriskennedy2012.com/issues.
Kathy Oetker
3:49 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
The Lake County State's Attorney's office is currently a disgrace. How have we been so complacent to allow these wrongful convictions to continue? We can no longer deny the truth that the entrenched Republican Party cannot and will not clean up the mess they have made. It is time for someone from the outside come in with new ideas and the integrity to follow the evidence where it leads.
Chris Kennedy is such a person. He has a plan that is outlined above. He has stated this plan long before it became "popular" to have a Convection Integrity Unit. He has experienced first hand the loss of a cousin to murder. He has been champion for the disabled including those with Autism.
Chris Kennedy will provide true leadership to the Office of State's Attorney!
Nightcrawler
12:25 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
Despicable.
Trying to link the Republican candidate to something he had zero to do with. Typical liberal lies.
David Gasper
4:14 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Chris seems to have a great handle both on what the current issues with wrongful conviction are along with some really great ideas to move forward on improving our justice system.
The idea that our present system is resistant to outside review and is resistant to having tests run on evidence is abhorrent. The Justice System is about producing justice, any fear of review or testing tells me that a prosecutors office is simply not concerned with justice. In order that justice be served, we need the truth, not truth spun to fit our views and not half truths backed by avoiding tests. I believe that Chris has done an outstanding job here showing that his goal is simply to bring integrity and truth back into an office of justice.
The plan for an outside advisory board to help come up with best practices and to review current practices is a wonderful one. I'm sure that Chris will find no end of support from the legal community both in the Chicagoland area and nation wide. By maintaining separation between the board and specific cases, he will prevent any conflicts of interest, a clear indication that Chris understands the difficulties and nuances that fixing such a tragically broken office will entail.
It's wonderful to see such a thoughtful and well spoken individual take a stand against the injustice in this world. Chris Kennedy will bring back to Lake County the pride and integrity that we as a county deserve.
Paul Kelly
9:07 pm on Wednesday, August 1, 2012
This is a commonsense solution to a costly problem. The hidden cost is that you have criminals who continue to commit crimes as you are spending wasted money to convict those who did not commit the crimes. And ... there is a justice angle to this.
Wendy M. Warden
12:32 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
It's time for change in the Lake County State's Attorney's Office the long reign of Mike Waller is ending on a sour note with wrongful convictions and costly pay outs which are going to be tacked onto our property tax bills once settlements are reached in these cases.
How is the world will the republican candidate change the system when he interned under Waller while in Law School, then worked for him up until a few years ago. Waller has been his mentor and he will more of the same. It's time for Chris Kennedy and his fresh new ideas! We have had decades of the same old same old.
Nightcrawler
12:59 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
I think it is disgusting that you incinuate that a candidate had something to do with the wrongful murder conviction of certain people simply because you are a member of a different party.
That would be like me blaming you for a crime your neighbor committed because you went to a BBQ with them twice a week. Your assumptions aren't just dangerous, they are wrong.
Hold Waller accountable if you want. But I am guessing many of the police who forced false confessions of botched evidence in these cases happend to be liberal like yourself...I highly doubt that all the police involved in those cases were all Republicans.
Nightcrawler
12:55 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
Yet again, no mention of what will be done by Mr. Kennedy to eradicate gangs in Lake County, which are spreading like wildfire.
And while you are there, let's put an end to the blatant disrimination that goes on in the offices where they have all women working to help people file domestic abuse charges against people. Some of the things I have witnessed going on there are disturbing.
I did an undercover investigation there as a journalist and caught several of them giving misleading information to judges, while on several occasions also telling men who were filing domestic paperwork against violent women to do things that jeapordized their own claims.
While domestic violence is a serious issue, men with similar domestic worries should not be treated differently by the women working in this office, which, as I stated, I have seen and documented during a lengthy article I am even still working on for an area newspaper as part of an investigative series.
Furthermore, I have watched some (not all) judges appoint attorneys as mediators in child custody cases in which who have felonies on their record, including but not limited to DUI, and leaving the scene of an accident.
You read that correctly, these are people who in some cases have been appointed to recommend to the courts what they feel is in a child's best interest, yet they have felonies on their record.
I would like to add that most of these judges are good people who may not even be aware of this.
GuitarMan
5:48 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
@ Steve Reynolds.
What has Mr. Waller done about gangs in Lake county? They have grown and continue to exist. Gangs are an association of people that may or may not be involved in organized criminal activities. The tendancy for people to associate in this way is nothing new, and may with us for a long time. Maybe the solution for gangs is a solution for the broken families that accompany joining a gang and not solely a law enforecement issue? Again, what has Mr. Waller done about gangs since they are still here?
Nightcrawler
6:01 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
@robertmyers Waller is not running in this election. Two other people are. So that is now irrelevant. There is also a story posted that outlines Nerheim's plan to attack gangs in great, great detail. But I am gonna guess you didn't bother to go look that up, even though it ran almost the same time this story was posted on here.
Nightcrawler
1:04 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
And Chris, if you are elected, I've got news and a suggestion for you.
Your "integrity unit" needs to shed light on more than just a handful of cases you deem aren't right. If you are going to make an integrity unit, it should oversee the entire court system and clerks office, not just a few select cases.
Otherwise, you aren't changing the culture you are claiming you wish to destroy, which includes but is not limited to: Rampant nepotism, taxpayer waste, clerk employees violating people's privacy and right, and worse.
Just saying, unless you shine the light everywhere, you aren't changing a thing, sir.
Courtney W. Hays
8:20 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
To avoid wrongful convictions, we need a State's Attorney with court room experience, on both sides. Mike Nerheim has been a prosecutor and a defense attorney. He teaches DNA evidence at the college level. Has Chris Kennedy any of these qualifications? We do not need a political State's Attorney, We need a quality State's Attorney
Paul Kelly
1:25 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
Yes, Ms. Hays, Chris Kennedy DOES have the quality experience that you seek. Thank you for bringing that up. He was a prosecutor as an Assistant State's Attorney from 1994 to 1998 and has been a civil litigator for years. He has extensive courtroom experience. He has taught classes on criminal law and evidence at the college level. Lake County deserves a quality State's Attorney - Chris Kennedy.
Daniel Asparouhov
3:20 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
You must have the wrong Chris Kennedy! The one I know, the one who is running for Lake County State’s Attorney, has an 18-year career of vital experience, accomplishments and results! He was a felony prosecutor and a lead trial attorney who built his own practice to represent victims of injustice. He’s taught criminal law and evidence at Columbia College, and his entire career has been about fixing problems. That’s why I think he is the ideal candidate to clean up the office of State’s Attorney, an office that has been known for its incompetence. What we need in Lake County is exactly what Chris Kennedy has to offer. He is competent and he cares. He is most certainly not political. He is what every attorney should strive to be!
GuitarMan
6:00 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
@ Courtney Hays.
Wrongfull convictions in part point to the states attorney, but equally point to the sheriffs department. A couple of years ago a family members was criminally charged for little more than being a passenger in a car. The charge was dismissed, only after much delay. In short the sheriff's department loves to charge/arrest and see if the defendant hires counsel and fights the charge. Therefore, playing the "one ups-man" game that I know something you don't know is old. Lets get a new perspective and throw the old bums out.
SHARON SANDERS
9:31 am on Thursday, August 2, 2012
I know that every problem that currently exists, including the serious issue with gangs, will be addressed by Chris. His feelings about integrity in the office crosses the whole gamut of the criminal justice system, and there are fine attorneys in the office now who would like to help Chris clean up the system from wrongful convictions to the gangs. He feels it's important to cross party lines because when it comes to justice, it must be non-partisan: justice should apply to all. Chris is a totally impartial individual who doesn't discriminate in any way or at any level. He also has the intelligence, skills, and know-how to run this office so that the streets are safer and the justice system ethical and fair.
Nightcrawler
1:01 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
This is terrible. Both candidates bring some good ideas to the table, but both have huge downfalls and potential problems that could jeapordize the integrity of the office yet again.
Can I please vote for neither one??
Courtney W. Hays
4:38 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
Mr. Kelly, You've made my point. You have assumed I am a woman, I am not. You are assuming Mr. Kennedy has more applicable experience for State's Attorney than Mr. Nerheim. Look at the records of each candidate, Mike Nerheim has twice the experience as a prosecutor and as a defense attorney as Mr Kennedy. A problem in Lake County courts has been DNA evidence, Mr Nerheim teaches DNA evidence.
David Gasper
6:01 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
Let’s start with the DNA evidence issue. First and foremost, the problem in the Lake County Court system is not an understanding of how to use DNA evidence or on any informational issue regarding evidence. Instead, the issue is that the present state’s attorney’s office has chosen to ignore DNA evidence. Instead of utilizing facts like DNA, the office has made cases fit the people they want to prosecute. They haven’t looked at the facts to find the criminal but instead have found their ‘criminal’ and then forged a story to fit that suspect. I assure you that they have a perfectly fine understanding of DNA evidence as many who have left the offices have gone on to teach DNA evidence courses.
Let’s talk about experience. Chris has taught the exact same class that Mike has so on the DNA evidence issue they are equals. I don’t deny that Mike has a long track record as an attorney. However, I personally wouldn’t be lauding that he was a part of the current broken justice system from 2000-2007. You’re welcome to be proud of that record but I personally think that’s one part of Mr. Nerheim’s record that you may want to be a bit quieter about.
Nightcrawler
6:10 pm on Thursday, August 2, 2012
Again, David, I would watch what you say because it is almost slanderous to try and link Mike to any of those cases without some sort of direct proof or evidence he was involved, or that he had a say in not wanting said evidence tested.
That would be like someone accusing you of something because one of your family members commited a crime.
GuitarMan
1:18 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
I think the "experience" card is thrown around like cheap wine. Since their appears to be issues of integrity in the office, and the integrity issues exist despite the presumed experience of Mr. Nerheim, it sounds like there is a more fundamental issue. Sounds like time for a change.
Nightcrawler
6:08 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
Why has this story stayed up on the site almost twice as long as the Republican candidate's blog did last week? That's unfair and unbalanced, sorry to say.
Kathy Oetker
10:57 pm on Saturday, August 11, 2012
Joe: Get a life. The Republican Candidates blog is still up too. Are you a lwayer??? I think not, what is the legal definition of slander and almost.
Nightcrawler
2:44 am on Sunday, August 12, 2012
No, they left the Democrat's last blog up almost twice as long. If it bothers you that I point that out, perhaps you're the one who should get a life because it shows a clear media bias. You do realize the site's editors have full control over that, right?
And it is slanderous to incinuate someone had something to do with wrongful murder convictions, if not worse. Shows your lack of class, too.
Nightcrawler
2:48 am on Sunday, August 12, 2012
Your last sentence made zero sense. Yeah I'm a lwayer.
And not sure what the legal definition of "almost" is, never knew "almost" was a legal term.
GuitarMan
11:45 pm on Sunday, August 12, 2012
@ Joe Richardson.
Joe check your spelling for Lawyer, I know it's a cheap shot. But why are you beating up on people who comment here? You know, telling people to "get a life"? Take the high road for the sake of the profession, and enlighten folks if and when they run off the rails a bit with their argument. Don't start down the road of name calling.
Nightcrawler
12:59 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Hey Robert...I wrote "lwayer," because she's the one who spelled it that way initially.
I guess you couldn't be bothered to scroll up a few places and actually see what I was referring to before opening your mouth and agnorantly commenting yet again.
I'm "beating up" on people, as you put it, because they are trying to connect the Republican candidate with wrongful murder convictions he had NOTHING to do with. So mind your own business, you've already shown your own ignorance Robert in a separate post when you were saying racially motivated things, so you have zero room to talk.
Kathy Oetker
10:57 pm on Saturday, August 11, 2012
Chris Kennedy has a detailed plan for a Conviction Integrity Unit.
He also has a plan to pursue and convict those that commit sexual crimes. That includes,seeing that evidence is pursued to convict the correct assailants. Sexual crimes are devastating. Unfortunately, they occur against, children and adults, women and men far to often.
I, one of many, know a change is coming!! We will have a real Justice System.
Nightcrawler
2:45 am on Sunday, August 12, 2012
Gonna laugh so hard when he loses, just because I know how mad you'll be. It'll be fitting considering how many insulting things you've said and downright mistruths you've posteed about Kennedy's opponent.
GuitarMan
1:12 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
@ Joe Richards.
Joe, give me a break, are your sure you're not an alias for someone else on this thread? You know one of the many name changes some undertake with this thread. If you really are a lawyer, along the line you missed out on the art of persuasion and civil discussion, and replaced it with insults and confrontation.
GuitarMan
1:12 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Excuse me, its Joe Richardson, not just plain of Joe Richards.
Nightcrawler
6:18 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Said the guy who was throwing around racist comments after the Wisconsin Sikh incident....or did you forget you did that Robert?
Funny how it's okay for you to insult a whole race of people as you did on that story yet you say I'm insulting people?
The only thing you're insulting is everyone's intelligence.
Just because someone disagrees with you doesn't make it a confrontation....escpecially when you are calling out people for making false accusations, or labeling people as horrible things they aren't, such as the poster above did toward the Republican candidate in this race.
Don't like it? Too bad. People are tired of the lies going around from the Democrats in particular in this country. Their hatred and anger has been far worse politically the last four years than anything I've ever seen from the right, and that's coming from someone here who voted for a Democratic congressional candidate two of the last three elections.
GuitarMan
12:05 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
@ Steve Morgenson.
In the interest of full disclosure, you should include with quotes your claim of "racist comments" and "making false accusations". I'm not offended by you inquiry, but need specific context.
To help you understand my original comment on the Oak Creek shooting, my original comments are intended to help someone like you to be introspective. As a life long white person, I think cries from white people of racist comments, from others shows you isolation and your need for introspection.
See Merriam-Webster online dictionary for assistance.
Sully
9:16 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Which is it, Joe? Lawyer or investigative journalist? Besides a persecution complex, you seem to have identity issues as well.
You see every action, every word spoken with which you disagree, as a personal affront. Slander? Are you kidding? You take making a mountain out of a molehill to an entirely new level.
Nightcrawler
9:57 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Huh?? To quote John Goodman in The Big Lebowski, "You're totally out of your element here."
Maybe you should stop jumping in conversations where you have no frame of reference. My slander comment stems from a previous blog in which the person I was speaking to, Kathy, did in fact slander the Republican opponent in this race, by trying to link him indirectly to several wrongful murder convictions in this county, when he in fact had zero to do with it.
It just so happens that my comments, to the same poster, carried over onto a discussion/debate on this post, since Kennedy is the Republican candidate's opposition.
Which you had zero clue about, because you just jumped into a discussion in which you knew nothing of the history of what I was referring to.
As for Robert, after the Sikh incident, he made a post that incinuated that white people in general were stereotyping people of other races and going around killing them, which I took offense to, and still rightfully do.
I shouldn't be grouped into one set of people based on the psychotic actions of a few white guys recently, and because I am not a minority does not make his comments ANY less racist than if I were any other race.
As if it's any more right to slander an entire group of people using racially motivated comments just because the target of that wrongful accusation isn't a minority?
GuitarMan
11:59 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Oh Sully, I can see "Joe" now kicking something, swearing, etc.
Nightcrawler
9:58 am on Monday, August 13, 2012
Sully is just upset because someone is actually standing up to him and others on here that are spreading half-truths about others, because they are so used to getting away with it.
GuitarMan
12:16 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
@ Steve Morgenson.
Can we get one quote on the "others on here that are spreading half-truths about others, because they are so used to getting away with it."
See how easy it is. If you are challenging what soneone has said, then put that on the record for discussion. Don't act like a child about to take his ball and leave.
man up.
Nightcrawler
12:22 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
It's funny how you tell me to man up but don't disagree that you made racially insensitive remarks.
It tells me you did just that.
Therefore, the last person I need to justify myself to is you, being provably bigoted and all against white people.
I don't need to put anything on the record. I called Sully out yesterday for lying to people with a specific quote he had from October of 2011.
Trust me, the last thing you want is my copying your racist quote and posting it here for all to see too Robert.
You both are disgusting human beings. I'm done even adknowledging your existence. Take your hatred and lies elsewhere.
GuitarMan
1:03 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
@ Steve Morgenson.
Actually I did refute your claim that I made "racially insensitive remarks" in the original post I cautioned white folks not to take it the wrong way. Again, Joe, what specifically are the "racially insensitive remarks", or racist remarks in general made by me?
Moreover, what is the problem with you "copying your racist quote and posting it here", the general line from the Tea Pots is they are only words. If as an lawyer you are unable to entertain the unfarnished comments, how in the word could you represent someone? Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. True when I was ten, and true today.
And again, man up and put my racist quotes out there, I won't crumble in the effort to discuss what I have stated here.
GuitarMan
1:07 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
@ Steve Morgenson.
"I don't need to put anything on the record. I called Sully out yesterday for lying to people with a specific quote he had from October of 2011."
Really, some generalized claim about a comment in 2011 from Sully is very weak.
GuitarMan
1:46 pm on Monday, August 13, 2012
@ Steve Morgenson.
My statement in response to the Oak Creek Shooting as posted on the Patch. In summary, over time race animus from white people, toward people of color has lessened. Hence my use of "some" and the point of my original comment that commentary from political representatives can have consequences, and Oak Creek may well are an example.
"robert myers
11:41 pm on Sunday, August 5, 2012
I hope this comment to white people is understood. Few white people know what a Sikh is, and… However, that is not my point. My point is this kind of shooting is inevitable given the ongoing paranoia toward Middle Eastern and Asian people embodied in rhetoric, for example, that our president is "Muslim" and not “born” here.
Comments about our president are “above ground” comments, without merit but nonetheless a constant reminder of how white people dislike and are driven insane by people from other parts of the world. Below this “above ground” insanity exist the raw racist attitudes that I have witnessed for many years. Years ago open animosity toward people of color was common place, especially in rural America. Now,… slithered below the surface, and rise to the top after a few beers and some choice comments that “loosen” up what some white people feel about anyone of color. I’ve heard the candor about people of color from many, if you’re white like me, you to have, and if you haven’t well that’s special.
Signed, older white guy."