The State of Indiana is fighting to uphold an attempted murder conviction in which the key witness’s identification was bolstered after he went to hypnosis. The prosecutor in that case, who downplayed the importance of that session and allegedly sought to keep it secret, is now an Indiana judge.
A Cook County judge this week overturned a murder conviction based on allegations that detectives under the command of disgraced Cmdr. Jon Burge tortured confessions out of the suspect, Arnold Day, who was convicted in 1994.
The committee that provides funding for Cook County circuit judges’ retention campaigns is turning much of its money over to the Cook County Democratic party, even though the party is mounting a campaign to defeat one retention judge, Matthew Coghlan.
Traditionally Cook County Circuit Court judges easily win retention every six years, with voters paying little attention to those races at the bottom of their ballots. This year, however, a confluence of events may change all that.