Brian Shields ST.CHARLES- There likely will not be a drunken-driving trial for Aurora Police Officer Ronald Hinterlong after a Kane County judge declared Tuesday that there was no probable cause for his arrest. Sixteenth Circuit Judge James C. Hallock said that none of the testimony in the probable-cause hearing established conclusively that Hinterlong was impaired. […]
Judge dismisses sex abuse charges against pastor
Brian Shields St. Charles Arvis Goodman said when her husband was first charged with multiple counts of child sexual abuse that she would stake her most valuable possession on the allegations being false. “He’s not a child sex offender. I’d give up my life on that. You can’t make me believe that he’s that kind […]
Judge Factors in Troubled Childhood for Sentencing
Karen Spak & Charles Keeshan The sentencing of Edward W. Edwardsen Jr. became positively literary for a brief moment Thursday. Edwardsen was being sentenced for armed violence, attempted murder and animal cruelty convictions for a series of bizarre attacks in Elgin and Carpentersville in September 2000. During his trial, his attorneys David Camic and John […]
Judge Lawyer Guilty of Bilking Firm
Kate Thayer ST. CHARLES – A LaFox woman faces the possibility of prison after she was convicted of stealing more than $137,000 from her St. Charles law firm. Ann Day, 56, was convicted of 28 counts of theft and forgery by Circuit Judge Timothy Sheldon. Sheldon issued his ruling late last week in writing, after […]
Judge rules Elgin teenager is unfit to stand trial
Sean D. Hamill A Kane County judge on Thursday found 18-year-old Edward Edwardsen at least temporarily unfit to stand trial on charges that he committed a series of violent crimes against two people and several cats last year. Citing evidence from the prosecution’s own psychologist, Judge Donald Hudson said that what he heard during a […]
Judge sentences two men in student’s LSD death to probation
By Brett Rowland SYCAMORE – A judge on Tuesday sentenced two men who pleaded guilty to drug charges in connection with a Northern Illinois University student’s 2015 death to probation. Michael R. Kielhack, 21, of the 600 block of Woodbridge Drive in Elgin, and Michael Z. Montgomery, 20, of the 1800 block of Abriter Court […]
Judge Upholds Kane Co Jail officers arrest
Harry Hitzeman A judge Thursday upheld the arrest and field testing of the former head of the Kane County Jail accused of driving drunk. Todd Exline, 46, of Aurora, faces charges of driving under the influence from a June 29 traffic stop in Geneva. Exline, a lieutenant, has been suspended without pay and faces termination. […]
Jury acquits man in near record time
Frank CallahanGENEVA – In what likely was one of the speediest verdicts in Kane County Circuit Court history, jurors took 17 minutes to acquit a St. Charles man accused of robbing a Batavia liquor store. The defendant, Eric Todd Evanoff, 34, of 1835 S. Seventh Ave. was found innocent of armed robbery. He had faced […]
Jurys verdict frees Salazar
Now cops out to “get him,” he says Sharon Cotliar Manuel Salazar has only been a free man for one day, but on Friday he said that it has already proven to be bittersweet. For the last 11 years, Salazar said, he has prayed that he would walk free someday and leave behind a 9-by-6-foot […]
KANE JUDGE THROWS OUT CONFESSION HOMICIDE
Marie-Anne Hogarth St. Charles On the grounds that police violated an Aurora teenager’s rights, Kane County Judge Philip DiMarzio has thrown out his confession to a 1999 gang-related shooting at a North Aurora motel. A North Aurora police Sgt. testified that, when he interviewed then 17-year-old Patrick Inocencio, the teen confessed to a role in […]
Kane legal circles split over grand juries
Mike Balley GENEVA – As court dockets bulge, debate has been reignited here over whether the grand jury system is outmoded and should be abolished Grand juries of 16 people are assembled, in the same way other juries are, every Tuesday here. Prosecutors present what they believe is the basis for charging someone with a […]
Kane prosecutor unveils plans to quit county office
Barsanti to join private law firm at end of David Akemann’s term Victoria A.F. Camron ST. CHARLES – When Kane County State’s Attorney David Akemann leaves office at the end of November, his first assistant also will be walking out the door. John Barsanti, who has worked in the prosecutor’s office for 21 years, will […]