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Zion man who spent 30 years in legal limbo now officially free

Now, Sebon Brown truly is a free man.

A Lake County judge Thursday refused to send the 57-year-old Zion man back to finish the 15- to 30-year prison sentence he received in 1973. Brown served less than two years when he was released on bond but never was notified his appeal was rejected and he had to return.

Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti said a series of mistakes by government officials led to more than 30 years in legal limbo for Brown.

"There is no fault pointed at any one agency, but the totality of the circumstances here constitute an unreasonable delay in carrying out the court's order," Rossetti said.

"There is no reason that any interest of justice would be served by taking this man into custody and forcing him to complete the original sentence."

Brown, who was convicted of raping a 17-year-old girl, was sentenced April 27, 1973, but was released Feb. 4, 1975, on an appeal bond.

He secured the bond by posting his parents' house at 3213 Gideon Ave., Zion -- and lived there continuously until the system caught up with the gaffes in his case and he was arrested Feb. 28, 2007.

Rossetti cited at least two occasions where there was no evidence Brown was informed his appeal had been denied April 23, 1975, and he had to return to prison.

In the interim, he was consistently employed, raised a family, twice served jury duty and appeared in traffic court before a judge who was the prosecutor in his 1973 case.

"One of the conditions for granting the relief we seek is that the defendant has lived a law-abiding life," Waukegan attorney Christopher Lombardo told Rossetti. "I believe that issue to be uncontradicted and uncontested."

Rossetti said there was no evidence the appellate court clerk ever notified Brown or his attorney the appeal had been turned down.

The mistake was noticed in the Lake County clerk's office in 1982, she said, and a hearing was scheduled for Brown to surrender himself in court.

A warrant was issued when he did not show up March 14, 1982. But Rossetti said she could find no evidence Brown or his lawyer were told the hearing had been set.

The warrant apparently never was forwarded to police or entered into any computer system until it was discovered the day of Brown's arrest. Police found him in the first place they looked.

Assistant State's Attorney Ken LaRue said the responsibility of keeping up with his court case's progress was Brown's alone.

"When the defendant was released from the Department of Corrections, at that point the burden was on the defendant," LaRue said. "None of the time that elapsed should be attributable to the state."

Rossetti disagreed, and ordered Brown immediately freed from the electronic monitoring bracelet he has been wearing since she released him on bond in June.

After the hearing, Lombardo slid a copy of Rossetti's order -- freeing him from the prison sentence -- across the table to his client and said "Here, have this framed."

Smiling broadly and surrounded by family members, Brown declined to comment as he left the courtroom.

LaRue has until Feb. 28 to decide if he will file a motion asking Rossetti to reconsider her decision.

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