By Robert Simels, written with Bennett L. Gershman
Originally published in amNewYork on
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Written with Pace law professor Bennett L. Gershman, this commentary examines the collapse of the federal case against six politicians, candidates and activists arrested during a protest outside an ICE facility in Broadview, Illinois. They had been charged with conspiracy to obstruct ICE operations during the government's Midway Blitz deportation campaign.
Defense lawyers asked Judge April Perry to review what happened in the grand jury. Prosecutors first gave her redacted transcripts with many pages missing. When she ordered full transcripts, they offered to dismiss the indictments. The defense kept pressing, the judge read the transcripts anyway, and she said she had never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that she saw in them.
The authors summarize the violations the judge identified: prosecutors vouched for the defendants' guilt, spoke privately with grand jurors about the case, removed grand jurors who disagreed with the government, and did not tell the judge that a grand jury had initially declined to indict while they kept pressing for charges. Drawing on their own years as prosecutors, the authors write that claims of "mistake" by experienced prosecutors are rarely credible, and they note that the lead prosecutors here were among the most experienced in the office.
The U.S. Attorney in Chicago, Andrew Boutros, agreed to dismiss the felony charges with prejudice and proceed on misdemeanors, while still standing behind the charges. Judge Perry said that her trust had been broken, that the defendants were entitled to a hearing on vindictive prosecution, and that sanctions might be discussed later. The authors call the case a paradigm of how a grand jury can be turned into an arm of the prosecutor's office, and they promised a follow up on reform.
Read the full commentary on amNewYork
This page is a summary prepared for robertsimels.com. The full commentary was published by amNewYork and remains on amNewYork's site.
Robert Simels. Robert Simels hosts the podcast Injustice for All and serves as a consultant on criminal justice matters. He is no longer practicing law.
Bennett L. Gershman. Bennett L. Gershman is a distinguished professor at the Elisabeth Haub School of Law at Pace University.
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