Judge wants 2 more weeks to decide on West ruling

A judge needs more time to decide whether to toss out misconduct charges against Kane County Coroner Chuck West.

Kane County Judge T. Jordan Gallagher was due Friday to rule on a motion to dismiss misconduct charges that West took a 24-inch television from the home of a dead Carpentersville man in 2007 while in his official role as coroner.

Gallagher said he needed more time to research the issues and will rule on March 30.

West’s defense attorney, Gary Johnson, argued last month that Special Prosecutor Charles Colburn, of the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor’s Office, overstepped his bounds as a prosecutor when he answered a grand juror’s question about what value the deceased man’s property had to have.

Colburn disagreed, saying he was merely advising the grand jury back in May 2010 and provided accurate information.

“They wanted to know if there was a dollar (amount) cutoff. There’s not a dollar (amount) cutoff,” Colburn said last month.

West has pleaded not guilty to the charges. If convicted, he faces two to five years in prison, but probation also is an option.