Cook County judges should be recused from hearing the case against two former Cook County prosecutors facing charges in connection with the wrongful conviction of a man who has said he was tortured into a false confession by detectives working under notorious former Chicago Police Cmdr. Jon Burge, a judge ruled Thursday morning.
A special prosecutor earlier this month announced that a grand jury returned indictments against Nick Trutenko and Andrew Horvat, former Cook County assistant state’s attorneys, alleging wrongdoing in a complicated and decades-old case of a man accused and later found innocent in the killing of two cops in 1982.
Trutenko is charged with perjury, official misconduct, obstruction of justice and violating a records act, while Horvat is facing charges of official misconduct, according to the indictment.
In a joint motion, attorneys for Trutenko and Horvat asked a judge to grant a substitution or declare a recusal of Cook County judges due to the defendants former roles as county prosecutors. The defendants may call Cook County judges to testify on their behalf, the motion said. It also noted that Horvat has represented at least eight county judges on civil matters as a prosecutor.
Lawrence Oliver, the special prosecutor assigned to the case, did not oppose the request, but asked that the case remain in Cook County.
“Ultimately this case concerns alleged crimes by former public officers that occurred in Cook County and affect Cook County taxpayers,” Oliver’s motion in response said. “There is a strong public interest for this case to be adjudicated in Cook County.”
During a hearing earlier this week, Reddick raised the question of whether Cook County judges should not hear the case, but said she did not want the matter to “devolve into forum shopping.”
On Thursday morning, Reddick said she found cause to recuse Cook County judges from the case and granted the motion.
“Based on the facts presented, and who the defendants are … this matter should be heard by a non Cook County judge,” Reddick said.
She added, though, that there is an “importance in this matter remaining in this county.”
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Reddick assigned the matter to Chief Judge Tim Evans, who will refer it to the Illinois Supreme Court for a decision and reassignment.
The allegations involve the prosecution of Jackie Wilson, who, along with his brother Andrew, was arrested and charged with murder in the fatal shootings of Chicago police Officers William Fahey and Richard O’Brien in 1982.
Cook County prosecutors brought Wilson to trial three times, and his convictions were twice overturned. Wilson’s third trial blew up when special prosecutors assigned to try the case in lieu of the Cook County state’s attorney’s office suddenly dropped charges after allegations surfaced that Trutenko, who originally prosecuted Wilson and was called as a defense witness in the 2020 trial, lied under oath.
Trutenko testified as a defense witness that he had a close friendship with a key witness against Wilson in his 1989 trial — William Coleman, who was reputed to be an international con man, liar and fugitive. Because Coleman’s whereabouts were unknown at that time, transcripts of his previous testimony against Wilson were read into the record at the trial.
But on the stand, Trutenko said Coleman was still alive. He further said he had not discussed Coleman with the special prosecutors handling Wilson’s case, which was untrue, according to those prosecutors. When they heard the alleged perjury, they dropped the charges against Wilson altogether.
Trutenko was represented by then-Cook County prosecutor Horvat. The indictment alleged that Horvat asked a special prosecutor not to ask Trutenko about his relationship with Coleman and failed to disclose that Trutenko “had concealed information” about his relationship with Coleman.
mabuckley@chicagotribune.com
