Cook County prosecutor seeks to void 10 cases

January 15, 2003

By NATHANIEL HERNANDEZ
of the Associated Press

CHICAGO - Cook County prosecutors Tuesday sought to void 10 of the 167 clemencies granted to death row inmates by former Gov. George Ryan.

State's Attorney Richard Devine said his assistants filed a petition with the state Supreme Court, arguing that the governor overstepped his authority in those 10 cases.

Devine said the death sentences of 10 of the inmates had been vacated in state or federal court, and they were awaiting re-sentencing at the time they were granted clemency.

"If a defendant is not sentenced, he is not convicted under the law and, hence, unable to be granted clemency," according to a statement from Devine's office.

"While we know that the governor has broad clemency powers under the constitution, we believe he overstepped that power" when he gave clemency to those 10 inmates, Devine argued.

Devine seeks to void the clemencies granted to: Willie Thompkins, Samuel Morgan, Julius Kuntu, Tyrone Fuller, Roger Collins, William Bracey, Robert St. Pierre, Cortez Brown, Paul Erickson and Gregory Madej.

Devine's action was the latest sign that Illinois prosecutors will continue to seek death in some of the most serious crimes.

Prosecutors around the state said Tuesday there were at least 60 cases pending in which they have stated their intentions to seek death for the defendants.

Cook County alone has about fifty cases in which the state has said it will seek the death penalty, said spokeswoman Jodee Sargeant of the state's attorney's office.

The Cook County public defender's office said it has received from prosecutors 109 notices of intent to seek the death penalty since March 1, 2001, in pending cases. But Jeff Howard, capital case coordinator for the defender's office, said the state's attorney often files the notices and then changes its mind.

In Kane County, State's Attorney Meg Gorecki said Tuesday prosecutors intend to seek death in four pending cases. In nearby DuPage County, State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said his office intends to seek death in four pending cases.

In Will County, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in one pending case and in Winnebago County, jury selection is underway in a case where William Buck is charged with killing a police officer.

Also Tuesday, the Illinois Supreme Court began to grapple with the sudden, dramatic changes to the cases of the 167 inmates who received clemency. The court Tuesday postponed oral arguments in one of those cases.

The justices asked lawyers in that case, People v. Gabriel Solache, to file briefs on how the case should proceed since Solache received clemency.

Among the 10 cases in which Devine is seeking to void the clemencies, is the case of Julius Kuntu. Kuntu was convicted of killing seven people, including four children, when he set fire to a Chicago apartment building in 1994.

Four more of those 10 inmates named in Devine's petition were convicted of killing two or more people.

Also Tuesday it was learned that a Cook County man could become the first person to be sentenced to death following Ryan's blanket clemency which he granted Saturday.

Christopher Parker, convicted of the fatal beating of his girlfriend's 2-year-old son, is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 4, and prosecutors will seek death, according to Sargeant.

Shelton O. Green, chief of the murder task force for the Cook County public defender's office, said he is concerned Ryan's decision has incited a backlash.

Green's office defends the accused in roughly 80 percent of all capital cases in Cook County.

"We believe it has had an impact on the judges and prosecutors," Green said of Ryan's blanket clemency. "They will now be more dedicated or more motivated to filling death row back up with new defendants - whether they are guilty or not."

January 16, 2003