To the Editor:
Civility has been much in the news lately. It is characterized by “politeness and courtesy.” Courtesy as in letting crime victims know when their cases are being adjudicated- or endlessly postponed.
Another axiom is that “justice delayed is justice denied.” Every criminal defense lawyer knows that the longer a case is allowed to founder in the court system the better chance a guilty person has of beating the rap.
Case in point: Kurt Prenzler received over 65,000 votes for County Board Chairman, becoming the first Republican elected to that position in many decades. Several months after his election Prenzler was accosted and battered by a disgruntled relative of a person Prenzler had properly removed from a position of public trust. Assistant State’s Attorney Jennifer Mudge quickly and properly assessed the situation and charged Matt Foley with appropriate crimes that fit the seriousness of the offenses. But then the wheels of justice ground to a halt, or fell off completely.
Sixteen long months have passed and we are no closer to a resolution of these onerous charges than we were when the charges were first promptly filed. But at least Prenzler has been kept abreast of the delays and the reasons for them? NOT.
Desi Jellen is in charge of the State’s Attorneys “Victim Witness Program.” She receives a handsome taxpayer funded salary to keep victims informed and to otherwise see that victims are not lost in the shuffle of meandering justice. However, not once in the 15 months of obfuscation and continuances has Ms. Jellen bothered to inform the victim of Foley’s alleged crimes of, well, anything. Although Jellen found time to attend the left-wing, hysterical anti-Trump rally in faraway Washington, D.C. she hasn’t bothered to notify the victim in this case of anything. Civility? Justice for crime victims? Hardly.
So, I make this simple offer, keeping in mind that I have a little experience in this area of the law. Let me do it. I have an extra four hours (the time it would take to pick a jury and present the case for the prosecution). I will even throw in the two hours or so to listen to the tepid defense (if any) and the 15 minutes for jury deliberations. And I’ll do it for free and promise to finish the case in two weeks. I might even throw in an examination of Foley’s brother, a lieutenant with the Glen Carbon Police Department, as a bonus, and see what he knows about this whole thing. (He was an eyewitness, at least).
And I promise to be civil to the miscreant who attacked our elected County Board chairman in front of 200 witnesses 16 months ago.
Don Weber
Troy