GUILTY IL - Riley Fox, 3, Wilmington, 6 June 2004

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http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/840046,4_1_JO13_FOX_S1.article

CHICAGO -- Riley Fox's parents may lose $2.5 million of the judgment awarded against five Will County Sheriff's deputies.

On Thursday, federal Judge John W. Darrah denied a post-trial motion filed by the Foxes' attorney to change a jury verdict regarding the claim of conspiring to intentionally inflict emotional distress on Melissa Fox.
......
"(The Foxes') argument as to the true intent of the jury is not convincing," Darrah ruled Wednesday. "The jury's verdict on Melissa Fox's conspiracy claim was clearly stated on the verdict form. The jury placed a checkmark under the 'For Defendant' column beside the names of each of the five defendants and set the damages for the conspiracy claim at $0."

Darrah decided "any inferences (the Foxes) might draw from the jury's award of punitive damages cannot overcome the clear statement on the verdict form that the jury found for the defendants on the conspiracy claim."
 
"The Will County sheriff's deputies who lost a $15.5 million judgment to the parents of Riley Fox will not be forced into bankruptcy. Both sides have reportedly agreed to a deal that gives Kevin and Melissa Fox the rights to the deputies' insurance claims in exchange for excusing them from personal liability. Essentially, the Foxes will seek money they were awarded from an insurance company, not from the detectives themselves."

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/855871,4_1_JO22_FOX_S1.article

"The Foxes never intended to personally bankrupt these individual detectives. They're not trying to be vindictive," said their attorney Kathleen Zellner."

"Zellner describes the policy the deputies carry as being 'analogous to a doctor's malpractice insurance.'"

"The detectives have assigned all rights to sue the insurance (carrier) for punitive damages over to Kevin and Melissa Fox and (the Foxes) have waived the detectives' personal liability against punitive damages."

IMHO this means that Will County's appeal, especially on the point of "qualified immunity" seems very unlikely to succeed.

It appears that, from the article cited in golfmom's post above, that the county likely won't be liable for the punitive damages awarded to Melissa Fox. However, I strongly suspect we will soon read about a settlement between Will County and the Foxes for the bulk of the remainder of the jury award. I cannot see Will County's insurance carrier allowing them to pursue the appeal, given all of the risks involved.

I am sure that Jeff Tomczak, Mary Jane Pluth who interviewed Tyler, Rich Williams the lie detector guy, and Detective Dave Dombrowski all had similar insurance policies, and that their settlements with the Foxes came out of those policies - since they were not just "dropped" as some would naively believe.

A high price to pay for that often fatal combination of arrogance and stupidity.

And Riley's killer is still at large and nobody in Will County law enforcement is looking for him. They are just focused on doing CYA damage control.
 
Well, so much for Will County's top-notch scientists and professionals. :rolleyes:

http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/beaconnews/news/857417,2_1_AU24_CORONER_S1.article

A medical examiner might be better equipped to handle complicated death investigations, Moustis said.

In the past decade, Will County has had several unusual murders, including the still unsolved 2004 death of Riley Fox, a 3-year-old from Wilmington, and the Christopher Vaughn case. Vaughn is the Oswego resident charged last year with killing his wife, Kimberly, 34; and their children Abigayle, 12; Cassandra, 11; and Blake, 8.

But one particular case was mentioned several times during the caucus: the death of Kathleen Savio.
 
genecam said:
I am sure that Jeff Tomczak, Mary Jane Pluth who interviewed Tyler, Rich Williams the lie detector guy, and Detective Dave Dombrowski all had similar insurance policies, and that their settlements with the Foxes came out of those policies - since they were not just "dropped" as some would naively believe.
Click to expand...

I completely agree ... too many sources to the settlement. I wonder if the other detectives had the opportunity to settle during the trial and arrogantly tried to brazen it out.

Doesn't seem like Will County is learning it's lesson though ... they should drop the appeals and settle at this point. :bang:
 
Hmmm... :waitasec: My husband is a detective sergeant with the local sheriff's department, and he has no "malpractice" type insurance that I am aware of...
Is that just an Illinois thing??
 
I've copied this out of the archives. I originally posted it a long time ago.

A Chicago man who contends police beat him into confessing last month
to the 2001 murder of his toddler daughter has presented a Cook County
judge with evidence that he says shows injuries inflicted when
detectives at Harrison Area headquarters struck him with a television
antenna.
A lawyer for Leonard Robinson Jr. on Thursday gave Judge Vincent
Gaughan medical intake forms from the Cook County Jail that show his
abdomen and back were covered with linear marks when he entered the
jail Sept. 15. Lawyer Andre Grant also brought photos of Robinson that
he says show marks on his body from the alleged beating.
Grant told Gaughan that the only evidence in the murder case is
Robinson's alleged statement, and it was neither videotaped nor
written down.​

The father who was accused and "confessed" to the murder of his son has now filed a lawsuit against the city.

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=6043923

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There are new allegations of abuse at the hands of a Chicago Police officer.

A lawsuit was filed Wednesday from a Chicago man who claims he was falsely accused of murder and, he says, he was severely beaten in an attempt to force a confession for the crime. Leonard Robinson was later acquitted of first degree murder charges.

Robinson says police punched him, stomped on him and whipped him with a TV antenna during three days of interrogation.
.......
The lawsuit further alleges that while Robinson was held in the Cook County Jail awaiting trial, the detective who claimed he heard Robinson confess to the crime made 17 phone calls to the suspect's wife.

"After he met her, he decided that he was going to continue to call her and to pursue her and to have a sexual relationship with her," said Andre Grant, Robinson's attorney.

Robinson was found not guilty last October. During a ruling on a motion to suppress the confession Judge Vincent Gaughan said, "I find, one, that the statement, if it was made, was made as a result of the beating and, therefore, was involuntary". And on the detectives alleged phone calls to the suspect's wife, Gaughn ruled, "For the lack of a better word, he's hitting on Mrs. Robinson at the time that he's the one saying that her husband made an oral confession."

Grant says, despite the judge's ruling and a complaint filed with the department three years, the offending officer was never disciplined.
 
A little bit more about the case:

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-police-beatingmar27,1,4038207.story

A Chicago police detective who allegedly framed a man in the murder of a 3-year-old boy repeatedly sought sex from the man's wife after he had been jailed on the murder charge, a lawsuit filed Wednesday charged.

The lawsuit also alleged that the same detective had falsely claimed that Leonard Robinson confessed to the murder.

....
Robinson was arrested on a domestic battery charge in September 2004. While in custody, a second detective, identified as Jack Boock, beat Robinson over the course of three days in an attempt to force his confession to the 2001 murder of an ex-girlfriend's son, Diamonte Williams, 3, the suit contended.
.....
At a news conference in his lawyer's Loop office, Robinson, 26, said he was held in an interrogation room at the Harrison Area police station for three days without food.

"They handcuffed me to a wall and beat me with a TV antenna," he said. "Kicked me, stomped me, spit on me. Did that for like three days, from Sunday to Tuesday."
....
After Robinson was charged with the murder and jailed, Humphrey allegedly told Robinson's wife he wouldn't be coming home again and offered her an apartment and a job at his restaurant. He then repeatedly sought sex from Robinson's wife. Grant said phone records showed Humphrey called Robinson's wife at least 17 times, sometimes in the middle of the night.

Grant expressed frustration over the fact that the police internal investigation remains unresolved after 3 1/2 years.

Mark Payne, spokesman for the Independent Police Review Authority, said that Robinson's complaint is still under investigation. .
 
How strange ... this is another case that came up during our discussion of Kevin and Riley. This was another election year prosecution case that with over zealous prosecution.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rivera-webapr05,1,4991223.story

Attorneys defending a man awaiting a third trial in the slaying of an 11-year-old girl in Waukegan 16 years ago Friday said they had new DNA evidence that could implicate another as yet unknown man in the killing.

In what they called a "significant development" in the case, the genetic profile from tiny specks of blood found on a door into the home where Holly Staker was stabbed to death did not match that of Juan Rivera, 35, the man twice convicted, in 1993 and 1998, in the slaying.

"Everyone wants this crime solved," said Jeffrey Urdangen, senior staff attorney at Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University and one of Rivera's several lawyers.

The new evidence comes nearly three years after DNA expert Ed Blake found that semen on the body of the victim, who had been raped and stabbed 27 times while she baby-sat two children at a neighbor's apartment, could not have come from Rivera. On that basis, Lake County Judge Christopher Starck ordered a new trial for Rivera.
 
A little more about the case: http://www.justicedenied.org/juanrivera.html

Juan Rivera was notified on March 24, 2005 that DNA tests had excluded him as the rapist/murderer of 11-year-old Holly Staker in Waukegan, Illinois in 1992. After being intensely interrogated for four days, police allege that the 20-year-old Juan confessed to Holly's rape and murder. Juan later testified that he had nothing to do with the crime, and that he had no memory of confessing and was coerced into signing the confession that the police admit they wrote. No physical evidence or eyewitnesses linked Juan to the crime, and an electronic bracelet he was wearing due to a burglary conviction established he was home at the time of the crime. However based solely on the alleged confession, Juan was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1993. After Juan's conviction and sentence were reversed in 1996 due to errors by the trial judge, he was again convicted in 1998 after a retrial and sentenced to life in prison. Juan was aided by the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law in having DNA tests performed on physical evidence left by Holly's attacker. Juan's lawyers have filed a Motion for a New Trial based on the exclusionary DNA test results.
 
After the court date in March concerning whether or not $2.5 million in punitive damages awarded to Melissa was consistent with the jury verdict concerning conspiracy to inflict emotional distress, the article stated that the next court date would be April 16th. I was out of town, and since I have been back, I have not read any reports as to whether or not that court date actually occurred. Does anyone know if any court hearing was held on April 16th?
 
genecam said:
After the court date in March concerning whether or not $2.5 million in punitive damages awarded to Melissa was consistent with the jury verdict concerning conspiracy to inflict emotional distress, the article stated that the next court date would be April 16th. I was out of town, and since I have been back, I have not read any reports as to whether or not that court date actually occurred. Does anyone know if any court hearing was held on April 16th?
Click to expand...

I regularly check google news and haven't seen anything come up.
 
I can't believe it's been 4 years... Everytime I see her little face, my heart just breaks..
I pray that justice will be soon.....
 
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-coroner13jun13,0,4344933.story

Will County Coroner Patrick O'Neil appeared Thursday before the Republican-controlled County Board and steadfastly defended the performance of his office,which the board is considering eliminating.

O'Neil, a Democrat, dismissed the notion that a medical examiner system—an option the board's GOP members are reviewing—would handle death investigations better than his office. He has held the elected post for 16 years.

O'Neil said a medical examiner, an appointed position held by a forensic pathologist, would only increase the county's budget for the office in salaries and equipment.

:silenced::silenced::silenced::silenced::silenced::silenced:

The Republicans have been floating the idea of eliminating O'Neil's office since April, after they were spurred by criticism of his handling of the investigation into the 2004 death of Kathleen Savio, the third wife of former Bolingbrook Police Sgt. Drew Peterson. Savio, 40, was found drowned in a bathtub in her Bolingbrook home only weeks before her divorce settlement to Peterson was to be finalized.
 
ahhhhhhhhhhhh this one almost slipped by me ..........

I wonder how much this cost Will County ? ? ? ?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-hotel-will_17jun17,0,7117113.story

Two Joliet hotel owners have settled their federal lawsuit against the Will County Sheriff's Department for wrongly charging them with selling credit card numbers to a scam artist, according to court records.

John Seo and John Rhee alleged that in 2006 sheriff's police worked with an informant and developed false evidence against them and 10 area hotel owners or employees, and that Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas allowed it to happen.

.......................

Neither the Will County state's attorney's office nor attorneys for Seo and Rhee would release the amount of the settlement, saying it was under seal. Other hotel owners charged in the investigation have lawsuits pending against the county.
 
golfmom said:
ahhhhhhhhhhhh this one almost slipped by me ..........

I wonder how much this cost Will County ? ? ? ?

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-hotel-will_17jun17,0,7117113.story

Two Joliet hotel owners have settled their federal lawsuit against the Will County Sheriff's Department for wrongly charging them with selling credit card numbers to a scam artist, according to court records.

John Seo and John Rhee alleged that in 2006 sheriff's police worked with an informant and developed false evidence against them and 10 area hotel owners or employees, and that Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas allowed it to happen.

.......................

Neither the Will County state's attorney's office nor attorneys for Seo and Rhee would release the amount of the settlement, saying it was under seal. Other hotel owners charged in the investigation have lawsuits pending against the county.
Click to expand...

GM, this DID get by me. Glad you saw it. Yeah, I wonder how much, too. I bet it was a big bundle if they're going to such great lengths to keep it secret.

So, they're on the hook for the Foxes' $15.5 mil. And then there are 3 suits pending for the 2 beatings and the rape in Kaupa$$'s jail - more stuff our trusty Sheriff is pleading ignorance about.

Looks like the county's got their hands full.
 
genecam said:
GM, this DID get by me. Glad you saw it. Yeah, I wonder how much, too. I bet it was a big bundle if they're going to such great lengths to keep it secret.

So, they're on the hook for the Foxes' $15.5 mil. And then there are 3 suits pending for the 2 beatings and the rape in Kaupa$$'s jail - more stuff our trusty Sheriff is pleading ignorance about.

Looks like the county's got their hands full.
Click to expand...

Genecam, only two of the plaintiff's have settled the case and with no mention of Kathleen, I'd have to assume the two hotel owners she's represented have not settled.

I just think as a taxpayer, they shouldn't be allowed to keep the amounts of the settlements secret.
 
golfmom said:
Genecam, only two of the plaintiff's have settled the case and with no mention of Kathleen, I'd have to assume the two hotel owners she's represented have not settled.

I just think as a taxpayer, they shouldn't be allowed to keep the amounts of the settlements secret.
Click to expand...

I agree that the taxpayers have a right to know how much of their money is being spent on these settlements.

I didn't know Zellner was involved in this case at all. You say she is representing two of the hotel owners?

This story only refers to the Holiday Inn. I do remember now that there was more than one hotel involved. I think there was a Ramada also.

What I do remember is that Hayes was the lead detective on this case and, even after the case imploded, Sheriff Kaupa$$ stated that he had complete confidence in his detectives. . . .including Sgt. Hayes.

Kaupa$$ - what a guy. One of those bosses that, if he likes ya he'll do anything FOR you, and if he doesn't like ya he'll do anything TO you.
 
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