• People v. Gianakis, 03 MC 5006013, successfully defended the prominent owner of Hickory Hills Country Club and numerous other restaurants against accusations that he had sexually assaulted and battered an employee. The complainant filed criminal charges and a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The State sought to introduce alleged evidence of allegedly similar acts which was blocked by motion.
Mr. Gianakis was acquitted on April 23, 2004.
• People v. Mearday, No. 98 CR 12458, obtained jury acquittal of defendant in high profile case with intense media coverage including interviews by ABC Network's "20/20." The case involved an African American male who had been beaten by the police and then video-taped by various news organizations in the hospital showing the level of injuries that he had sustained. An entire city became gripped by the drama. Two officers involved in the beating were the subject of high profile hearings by the City and they were dismissed from their job. Shortly after their dismissal Mr. Mearday was rearrested, he was accused of felony battery on three police officers and felony drug possession. Police claimed they found illegal narcotics in his shoes and he had engaged in violence against them.
Mr. Mearday currently has civil claims pending against the City of Chicago. They have admitted liability as to some of those claims.
Resolved 2001
• People v. Gens, successfully defended a prominent attorney who had been indicted for theft for a series of business transactions.
Resolved early 90's.
• People v. McManamon, obtained jury acquittal of a Cook County Sheriff's deputy charged with the murder of his wife; wife was shot at point blank range. State put on witnesses who claimed there was a loud argument immediately preceding the gunshot about his wife becoming a Jehovah Witness and rejecting her Catholicism. Successfully convinced the jury that it was an accidental shooting.
Resolved 1987
• People v. Folaron, obtained the jury acquittal of a Viet Nam veteran who received a purple heart and was accused of a capital murder in a double homicide. In addition to two eyewitnesses the prosecution used a nationally prominent anthropological expert in an effort to bolster the identification witness' testimony. This expert was previously undefeated in twenty other jurisdictions in murder cases. The expert claimed that her scientific anthropological analysis would demonstrate the shoes found at the scene were actually the Defendant's shoes based upon the wear pattern. Shortly prior to this prosecution Mr. Folaron had been acquitted of a homicide where he was alleged to have been in a fight with his father. Judge concluded that his father died of a heart attack; he was picked up after that for this case. Craig represented him in that case as well. The jury rejected the State's expert and their identification witnesses and acquitted Mr. Folaron. The case also addressed a landmark issue prior to trial; it was a case where the Supreme Court decided that a jury did not have to decide the death penalty issue but that a Defendant could be tried by a jury and elect to have the sentencing portion, if necessary, taken by a judge. That aspect of the case was the subject of numerous periodicals and discussions.
Resolved 1986
• People v. John James, obtained the jury acquittal of a young man who was a relative of a prominent supporter of Mayor Washington who was accused of an attempted murder on three police officers. The trial judge who refused to recuse himself was a close ally of Mayor Washington's main opponent and unfortunately his own brother was a police officer who had been shot. The Defendant was accused of shooting at the police officers at point blank range. At trial the police identified the Defendant as the individual who had shot at them. We cross examined the police strenuously about information that was not consistent with their identification. We were also able to locate people that heard a third party admit to the crime. Although the police officers were adamant that this was the individual who shot at them, the jury disagreed and acquitted the Defendant. Subsequent to the trial, the trial judge for illegal conduct as a judge was sentenced to the federal penitentiary.
Resolved mid-80's