Natalia Chi
CHICAGO — Three women who left high-ranking posts at Cook County’s state attorney’s office each made big career moves Monday in unrelated but newsmaking fashion. was named a deputy judge in Chicago, and was a third finalist for the next U.S. Attorney in Chicago.
federal prosecutor candidate
April Perry, former Chief Ethics Officer of Cook County State Attorney Kim Fox, resigned Just like the Jussie Smollett hate crime scandal exploded in 2019.Senator Dick Durbin and Senator Tammy Duckworth yesterday sent perry’s name To President Joe Biden as one of the two best federal prosecutor jobs here.
While Chicago police are still investigating Smollett’s hate crime allegations, Perry wrote to staff at the state’s attorney’s office that Fox had “declined” the investigation to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. I informed you with
Foxx’s so-called refusal was improperly handled, a Cook County judge later ruled. He also concluded that Fox should not have named his replacement. Because that decision itself could be affected by the conflict she was trying to avoid.
Smollett’s case was settled by prosecutors who weren’t properly chosen to represent the state, so a judge broke Smollett’s contract with Fox’s office and set the stage for the trial that led to Smollett’s conviction last year. Smollett’s attorneys are appealing the conviction.
Two months after Perry resigned, Fox tried to blame her for the botched “refusal”, saying she was following “the advice and guidance of my then-Chief Ethics Officer.”
Perry fought back, saying her advice to Fox’s chief of staff was to “seek court approval and request the appointment of a special state attorney,” a process the judge determined was the right course of action. Foxx decided not to follow Perry’s recommended actions.
“It is the chief ethics officer’s job to provide the best possible advice and guidance based on the facts given to her at the time,” Perry told reporters. If it is, it may not be.”
Perry is currently a senior attorney at GE Healthcare and has served as a federal prosecutor in Chicago for 12 years.she also Inquisitor for Chicago Police.
new assistant judge
Other Fox veterans getting career news on Monday are Jennifer Coleman and Nato Shatler.
In April 2021, Fox tapped veteran Cook County Prosecutor James Murphy. to make it rest After several people questioned the accuracy of his account in court of the Chicago police murder of Adam Toledo.
“We put that individual [Murphy] A Foxx spokesperson told the media that it was conducting an internal investigation into the matter.
But when the investigative report came out, it offered almost the same A version of events Murphy presented in court.Murphy went back to work and his boss Coleman kicked out.
Despite Fox’s initial statements about Murphy, he didn’t “fail” to let himself know, as her office claimed. An investigation revealed that due to Foxx’s own policies, it was unable to access all information it may have needed prior to the court hearing. The investigation found that Coleman, who was Murphy’s boss, had access to all information, but did not review his bonded court presentation beforehand.
Toller, the widely respected prosecutor who heads Foxx’s criminal prosecution unit, resigned abruptly in February 2021. In an email to his staff, Toller said he would be leaving “without compromising my integrity and reputation.” state attorney’s office.
Coleman now works for the Cook County Sheriff’s Office, and Toller works for the Judicial Commission of Inquiry, according to biographies released Monday by the Illinois Supreme Court.
The court release named a total of 22 new deputy judges, including six current employees of the Cook County State Attorney’s Office of Stony and two attorneys from the Cook County Defendant’s Law Office.
