Peoria Pundit

As this YouTube video demonstrates, police officers in Illinois often appear in uniform in ads for politicians they endorse. In this case, the politician in question is Tom Allen, Democratic candidate for Cook County state’s attorney. Those complaining about local cops ought to take heed.

DeWayne Bartels is reporting that it appears that a photograph of uniformed Peoria Heights police officers posing with Republican Peoria County State’s Attorney candidate Darin LaHood in front of a police car may be a violation of election law. The top cop in the Heights has apparently asked LaHood’s opponent, incumbent Democratic SA Kevin Lyons to investigate this apparent violation.

If there are election law violations, they must be investigated and prosecuted. But here are the problems:

• It’s a screaming conflict of interest for Lyons to investigate a charge involving his opponent.
• The propriety of state’s attorney candidates by police unions is itself an issue in the LaHood/Lyons campaign. LaHood brags abut how every single police union has endorsed him. Lyons says he doesn’t accept police endorsements because he wants to maintain the independence of his office. It’s a brave stance to refuse to accept support from people who would rather eat their own young than offer support.
• The way I read the article, if this is a violation of the law, then the violators are those officers who posed for the pictures, not LaHood, even thought LaHood is in a better position to know election law, being a lawyer who has spent the better part of the past year as a candidate for office. Going after officers wouldn’t win Lyons any friends in uniform. But then, Lyons cites his willingness to prosecute police as proof of his independence.
• It’s been suggested elsewhere that Lyons would seek an outside prosecutor, like Tazewell County SA Stuart Umholtz. Trouble is, LaHood used to work with Umholtz.

In other Lyons/Lahood mudfest news, a judge has ruled that accused rapist Monterius Hinckle can be tried in Peoria County, despite the pre-trial publicity caused when Lyons held a press conference to complain that LaHood had tried to meet with the father of one of girls Hinckle is accuses of attacking.

(Press release)

Peoria, IL – “Peoria has unacceptable levels of crime…we need a new approach for prosecuting criminals…that’s why we need Darin LaHood as State’s Attorney.” So begins the first paid television advertisement of the election season for the Peoria County race for top prosecutor.

Darin LaHood, the challenger candidate who has secured endorsements from every police organization in Peoria County began airing this commercial today (Friday, September 26th).

“The stakes are high in the State’s Attorney’s race,” said LaHood.

“Over the past year I’ve been campaigning and people have repeatedly told me that they’re feeling less and less secure in their own neighborhoods. I maintain that our present system of criminal justice in Peoria County is falling short of what we expect and deserve and it is my goal to win the State’s Attorney’s race to make Peoria County safer for all of us.”

Thanks to widespread support and hundreds upon hundreds of individual donors, LaHood has worked hard to be in a position to wage a television advertising campaign. LaHood expects to maintain a television presence throughout the campaign season.

“I am thankful to the hundreds of people who believe enough in this campaign to help us fund our operations. This is yet another clear signal that folks in Peoria are tired of having the dubious distinction of the highest crime rate in the state and that my plans for reversing this trend are gaining a lot of attention.”

LaHood has earned the support of all nine police organizations in the County; the collective reasoning amongst the different bureaus is that the present State’s Attorney has not done enough to keep repeat, violent criminals off Peoria Streets and it is time for a change.
Police unions representing the City and County of Peoria, Bartonville, Chillicothe, Peoria Heights and the Correctional Officers, as well as departments in Elmwood, Glasford and Norwood have all publicly announced support for LaHood.

Forty-year old Darin LaHood presently practices law with the Peoria Miller, Hall, & Triggs. Prior to that, he served as Chief Terrorism and Federal Prosecutor for four years with the U.S. Department of Justice in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaHood gained experience as a county prosecutor during years spent as an Assistant State’s Attorney in both Tazewell and Cook counties. LaHood and his wife, Kristen are both Peoria natives and are raising their three children in their hometown. They are active in numerous Peoria charitable and civic organizations and are members of St. Vincent de Paul Church. Visit www.DarinLaHood.com to learn more about Darin, volunteer opportunities, or to contribute to the campaign

(press release)

Rural Police Departments Back Darin LaHood for State’s Attorney’s

Elmwood, Glasford, Norwood Police Issue Endorsements, Join Other County Organizations

Peoria, IL – Law enforcement in Peoria County firmly stands behind Darin LaHood for State’s Attorney; with the announcement of Elmwood, Glasford and Norwood Police Departments’ endorsements of LaHood’s candidacy, the challenger has secured the public support of all police organizations in Peoria County.

“The smaller police departments, which are at the mercy of their sometimes tight municipal budgets, are no less committed to public safety than any other police force,” said LaHood. “When an officer in one of these communities makes an arrest, that officer has provided necessary protection to residents. When the State’s Attorney’s office fails to charge that suspect and lets that suspect out as a result of a plea agreement, it weakens our County’s criminal justice system. It is my goal to strengthen that system and make Peoria County a safer place for all.”

Police Chiefs from each of the community departments described why they support LaHood:

“We need support from our State’s Attorney and Darin LaHood has indicated that he will stand firm for police officers throughout Peoria County,” says Glasford Police Chief Mark Harper. “With myself and nine part time officers, we cannot do it all ourselves. It will be good knowing that Glasford law enforcement has solid back-up in the Courthouse.”

Elmwood Chief Aaron Bean said, “We work closely with the Sheriff’s deputies, but seldom do we have the necessary and consistent communications with the State’s Attorney’s office. In law enforcement, we all have to work together, be on the same page and ultimately we can make Peoria County a safer place.”

Echoing his counterparts, Norwood Police Chief Christopher Carrier said, “While our small department does a great job for our community, it is imperative that we have cooperation with the prosecutor. Clearly we don’t face the crime problems of the inner-city, but we do have our problems that end up at the County Courthouse. We believe Darin LaHood is candidate who will support all police departments and communities in Peoria County.”

The three rural police departments, Glasford, Elmwood and Norwood round out the full slate of police organizations in Peoria County that have publicly endorsed LaHood’s candidacy for State’s Attorney. Among those, the Peoria Police Department, the Peoria County Sheriff’s Office, the Chillicothe Police Department, the Bartonville Police Department and the Peoria County Correctional Officers.

Darin LaHood, 40, was born and raised in Peoria. He is a former Chief Terrorism and Federal Prosecutor who served four years with the U.S. Department of Justice in Las Vegas, Nevada. LaHood was also an Assistant State’s Attorney in both Tazewell and Cook counties. LaHood and his wife, Kristen, returned home to Peoria in 2005 to raise their three children: McKay, Luke, and Teddy. LaHood currently practices with the Peoria law firm of Miller, Hall, & Triggs. Darin and Kristen are active in numerous Peoria charitable and civic organizations and are members of St. Vincent de Paul Church. Visit www.DarinLaHood.com to learn more about Darin, volunteer opportunities, or to contribute to the campaign.

(press release)

Peoria, IL (Sept. 4, 2008) – Candidates in four hotly contested races will discuss issues important to voters in the Illinois Heartland. Don’t miss your chance to hear them battle it out over local topics including crime and the area economy as well as national issues concerning trade, domestic energy production and foreign policy. Seats are limited so log on to www.peoriachamber.org and register now for the three scheduled candidate forums:

18th District Congressional Candidate Forum
Aaron Schock/Colleen Callahan/Sheldon Shafer
Date: September 10th, 2008
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Location: Hotel Pere Marquette
Live Broadcast on September 10th by 1470 WMBD

92nd and 106th District State Representative Candidate Forum
Jehan Gordon/Joan Krupa
Keith Sommer/Tom Shrier
Date: September 17th, 2008
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Location: The Heartland Partnership Board Room, 100 SW Water, Peoria

Peoria County State’s Attorney Candidate Forum
Kevin Lyons/Darin LaHood
Date: October 1st, 2008
Time: 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Location: The Heartland Partnership Board Room, 100 SW Water, Peoria

Media interviews and photo opportunities with candidates will immediately follow each forum.

Judge James Shadid today recused himself from the trial of Monterius Hinkle. He cited he and his wife’s $250 donation to the campaign of fellow Democrat Kevin Lyons, the current Peoria County State’s attorney. The case has been recently politicized because of a dispute stemming from challenger Darin LaHood visit to the family of one of the girls Hinkle is accused of raping. LaHood has been subpoenaed to testify at a change of venue motion by Hinkle’s attorney.

The Peoria Times Observer was set to report on the donation, and Shadid’s decision kept the fact from becoming yet another issue in the race. Chief Judge Stuart Borden will now preside over the case.

Shadid, in his court order, filed today, said, in part, “This case was assigned to me in February 2008. As a candidate for judicial retention I have attended a variety of political functions, including a fundraiser for state’s attorney Kevin Lyons in April of 2008. This does not disqualify me from my sworn duties, nor does it create any reasonable appearance of partiality.

“Nonetheless, because the case has become an issue in the state’s attorney’s race, and before any rulings are made on the defense motions as to change of venue, I have determined to recuse myself for the reasons stated above.”

During his tenure in office, Shadid has developed a reputation for being a tough judge and a good courtroom manager.

Judgeships in Illinois, however, are a political office, and party membership matters in appointments and elections. That a judge would donate to a partisan political campaign isn’t surprising, although that he would donate to state’s attorney is sure to raise eyebrows about the practice. It should be noted that the size of the donation is relatively small.

At a debate before West Peoria Residents’ Association last week, LaHood boasted that he has never sought nor would he accept donations from police officer unions, all of whom have donated to LaHood. He said the office belongs to the public and should not be beholden to anyone.

From the Peoria Journal Star:

Pretrial publicity in the case of accused serial rapist Monterius Hinkle could move his trial, scheduled to start in 10 days, out of Peoria County.

Kevin Lowe, Hinkle’s attorney, filed a change of venue motion during a brief hearing Friday morning. The one-page motion was supplemented with several newspaper articles, blog posts and transcripts of television news coverage, mostly from the past week when Hinkle’s sexual assault case became ground zero in the race for state’s attorney.

C.J., are your ears burning too?

I suppose I could use this as an example of how blogs are going mainstream. In reality, it always makes me nervous when something I wrote or did as a journalist becomes the news. Press reports are often cited when attorneys seek a change of venue. When bloggers behave like journalists, we get cited in change of venue motions.

I don’t blame Kevin Lowe for dragging me into it, that’s his job. The reporters and bloggers he cited were going their jobs.

And I commend reporter Andy Kravetz for the fair and non-judgemental way he described the dust-up:

LaHood believes current State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons dropped the ball and did not charge Hinkle when he was initially arrested. Instead, LaHood contends Hinkle was caught and released three times before being charged, which allowed him to allegedly commit as many as five assaults.

The claim had been simmering for a while but burst into the spotlight Tuesday when Lyons accused LaHood of interfering in Hinkle’s prosecution by going to visit a family of one of the alleged victims. Lyons said LaHood showed up at the house uninvited and tried to pass himself off as the “new prosecutor” on the case. LaHood denies that, but admits he went to the house to talk to the alleged victim’s father to find out why the criminal justice system failed that family.

When the debate was over, C.J. Summers turned to me and said he was surprised that no one asked either Kevin Lyons (above, left), the current Peoria County State’s Attorney, or Darin LaHood, his GOP challenger, to comment on the controversy that headlined the Peoria Journal Star that morning. Lyons held a press conference to criticize LaHood for visiting the family of a young sexual assault victim. Lyons said LaHood was interfering with the case against the man accused, LaHood he did no such thing.

I won’t discuss the accusation here.

But I admit I went to the debate at West Peoria City Hall expecting the issue to come up. Every single news outlet seemed to be represented. Usually, reporters usually do NOT attend neighborhood association meetings at all. Obviously, a lot of reporters thought they just might be some fireworks.

There wasn’t.

Both candidates made reference to the press people taking up all the space. Lyons talked a bit about how vigorous campaigning is good for democracy. But both candidates were civil to each other, even as they took turns insinuating the other was incompetent, inexperienced, corrupt, untruthful, etc. Lyons even cracked a few jokes.

In other words, they didn’t give the press what they wanted, except for maybe a few good quotes or sound bites. Instead, we were treated to a discussion of the issues. Who woulda thunk?

So why didn’t the good people of West Peoria bring up the subject of the visit to the victim’s family?

Answer: They had other things on their mind. They wanted to know about they candidate’s experience. They wanted to know how they plan to fight crime. Sure there were a couple questions I thought were softballs, but for the most part, these people are concerned about crime and safety.

It’s the press that’s concerned about scandals.

Here are some highlights:

Lyons cited his 20 years experience in the office. LaHood says he prosecuted 30 cases that went to trial in the last 8 years. Lyons says most of those were traffic-related and that’s he’s prosecuted murderers, including serial killers. LaHood responded that he headed a special task force as a federal prosecutor in Las Vegan that focused on prosecuting gun crime. Lyons last appearance in a courtroom was a DUI/resisting arrest that ended in a split verdict, and he personally tries at least one case a year, leaving most prosecutions to assistants. Lyons said LaHood never tried a case in Peoria County. LaHood was a prosecutor in Cook County and In Tazewell County.

Lyons scoffed at a map LaHood distributed that showed Peoria County had one of the highest crime rates in Illinois, saying that went up to 2005. Peoria has had only three murders this year, and if Lyons is going to be blamed for previous crime rates, he wants to be credited for the lower crime rate now. LaHood urged attendees to visit the Illinois State Police web site, which still lists Peoria County as the worst crime rate in 102 counties, he said.

Lyons raised the possibility of asking the state legislature to end the ban on bail bondsmen. He says that if someone other than just the courts and the police have a stake in making sure defendants make their court appearances, they might be fewer people just deciding to sacrifice their $100 bond and not show up in court. He also wants to make more use of “dark” courtrooms, by putting judges and clerks to work handing backlogs when a scheduled case is postponed.

LaHood reiterated his five point plan, which includes re-evaluating how and when the office would seek plea agreements. He wants to experiment with not seeking plea agreements in cases involving guns or violent crime. He wants to assign specific prosecutors to specific neighborhoods so they would be familiar with the troublemakers high crime areas.

Lyons told an East Bluff resident that the deterioration of the inner city isn’t unique to Peoria and that his office is concerned about crime in older neighborhoods.

Lyons talked about how the state’s attorney’s is just part of the assembly line. He talked about the need for balance. At one point he talked dismissively of the general belief that people who commit crimes should go to jail and people who hurt other people need to go to prison. And he denied that his office seeks plea agreements more than other counties, and that judges also must sign off on them as well.

LaHood said the state’s attorney needs to operate under the belief he is the chief crime fighter in the county,

LaHood mentioned several times how he has been endorsed by police unions, saying it’s a reflection of how police officers feel about Lyons. Lyons mentioned that his office has prosecuted 23 police officers during his tenure in office and that he’s never sought police union endorsements or contributions because his office is “not for sale.”

Peorian General Parker, citing his accusation last year that the Peoria City Council violated the open meetings act, as well as another allegation against the Peoria School Board, asked Lyons about the need to prosecute everyone who violated the law, as well as poor black people.

Lyons would have none of it. He reminded the audience that Parker was the one who filed the complaint. He said that he agreed with Peoria City Attorney Randy Ray that no violation occurred, and said an Illinois Attorney General’s Office opinion to the contrary was wrong.

LaHood said all he knows about the complaint is what he saw in the news media. But he assured Parker — as did Lyons — that he would prosecute any time he thinks there’s a violation.

Click to enlarge.

From today’s Journal Star article about State’s Attorney Kevin Lyon’s press conference:

[Accused rapist Monterius] Hinkle’s case is set for a pretrial conference later this week and trial next month. When reached by phone, his attorney, Kevin Lowe of the public defender’s office, said, ‘That’s my main concern. This is a case that has already garnered significant media attention.’

‘The current round of publicity [italics mine] makes it impossible for him to receive a fair trial in Peoria County, and as a result, I’ll be filing a motion to change venue,’ Lowe said.

And who is responsible for this “current round of publicity?” That would by Lyons. Even if you believe Darin LaHood was wrong to contact the family of the victim, the public learned about it ONLY because Lyons had his overwrought hissy fit in front of the cameras.

And bear in mind there is NO law against an attorney contacting the family of a crime victim, nor any ethical rule against it. If there were, Lyons would have filed charges or a complaint against LaHood with the bar association.

Lyons defenders (even those who use their own name) often cits how concerned he is about fair trials. Consider the underlying reason Kinkle’s attorney will seek a change of venue: His client can no longer get a fair trial.

And I’m sure the families involved in this will just love having to travel to whatever remote location is chosen for the trial. And the taxpayers have to foot the bill.

(press release)

STATEMENT FROM DARIN LAHOOD
Peoria, IL – Darin LaHood, candidate for Peoria County State’s Attorney has issued the following statement in response to Kevin Lyons’ statement yesterday:

“Five children between the ages of 13 and 16 were allegedly raped by a convicted felon out on parole over the course of 13 months leading up to January of this year. Monterius Hinkle was arrested at least three times by law enforcement, and was never charged for any rape by the State’s Attorney Office until the fifth rape. He should have been charged the first time. Instead, Hinkle left five rape victims and their devastated families. Concerned citizens of this community want answers as to why Hinkle was walking the streets of Peoria after four alleged rapes.”

Kevin Lyons has reduced the criminal justice system – particularly in this case – to political expediency; he has made false accusations against me, and he is ultimately responsible that Hinkle was free, on the streets of Peoria to allegedly commit these multiple rapes. I am a candidate for the office of State’s Attorney and yesterday the Peoria Heights police officers endorsed my candidacy by giving me the unanimous support of police organizations throughout the County. Law enforcement has collectively said that Lyons offers them no support as they tirelessly work to keep our streets safe.

I make no apologies for continuing to ascertain how families who have been victimized by unspeakable crimes feel about their treatment in our criminal justice system. I have this responsibility as a candidate for State’s Attorney This is crucial because the safety and security of our community depends it. At the very least, citizens should expect that violent criminals are sent to prison the first time and not allowed to roam the streets and commit further crimes. My commitment to the citizens of Peoria County is to put violent criminals where they belong–behind bars.”

UPDATED: This link will take you to images of Kevin Lyon’s statement. If anyone cares to run this through an OCR program and send me the text, I’ll print it verbatim. But I’m not gonna retype it. Lyons is overwrought with indignation at how LaHood exploited the girl. He said this in front the television cameras. About the man running against him for state’s attorney.

At first blush, Darin LaHood comes off in a bad light in this article:

State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons said this afternoon that Darin LaHood, his opponent in November’s election, is interfering in a sexual assault case involving a minor girl.

LaHood went to the girl’s house Thursday and spoke to the girl’s mother, Lyons said. He offered up information about the case and said “something about the State’s Attorney not caring about our case because we are south siders.”

On Monday, LaHood went back to the home, where he was confronted by two of Lyons’ investigators and drove off without getting out of his car. The county’s top prosecutor called that behavior “improper, outrageous and an offensive invasion into the private life of a rape victim, a minor no less, who was sexually assaulted and whose attacker is in jail awaiting trial.”

LaHood comes across as someone exploiting this girl. What we don’t know are the behind-the-scenes activity of the other people involved. LaHood was confronted by Lyons’ investigators. I presume this second visit was an appointment. Are we to believe LaHood made an unannounced visit at the exact same time Lyon’s employees were there to greet him? I think not.

Lyons says LaHood passed along information about the case. LaHood says he did no such thing.

Was LaHood politicizing this case? We’ll never know. I’m not aware of any instance in which LaHood mentioned this specific case to promote his candidacy. The first mention of this case in political terms from either candidate — as far as I know — happened with Lyons held his press conference.

As far as questioning whether Lyons got the information, I assure readers that while the information is left out of some police reports available to the public, it is NOT a state secret.

Lyons did not lower himself to answer reporters’ questions. Therefore, we don’t know in what way LaHood is supposed to have “interfered” with his prosecution of Monterious Hinkle. Lyons has a habit of blaming everyone other than himself when he cannot successfully prosecute someone. Perhaps he’s just laying the groundwork for his next excuse.

I think Lyons made the tactical mistake here. I had almost forgotten about Monterious Hinkle. So I went back and checked my archives. It took three separate sexual assault arrests before Lyons took the steps necessary to get this guy in jail to await trial.

So it’s not LaHood who owes this girl and her family an apology.

The main issue in this race is whether or not the current state’s attorney declines to prosecute cases the police thinki ought to be prosecuted. How in the world is this case NOT relevant to this issue?

My advice to LaHood: Don’t run from this. Keep bringing up the case of Monterious Hinkle.