No video of Hall arrest exists, lawyer says
The lawyer representing Circuit Judge David Hall in his DUI and resisting arrest case said today he has learned there is no video record of the incident.
Waukegan attorney Jason Mercure said police reports from the April 26 arrest say the two Vernon Hills police squad cars at the scene were equipped with video cameras, but they failed to make a recording.
"We are very disappointed to learn that there is no video whatsoever," Mercure said. "Frankly, we find it hard to believe that this was coincidental."
Hall's attorneys have said that during the arrest, the judge was sprayed with pepper spray by officers because he was not cooperating.
Vernon Hills Police Sgt. Kevin Grampo declined to comment about the video.
Robin Ziegler, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Attorney General's office that is prosecuting the case, said she could not confirm or deny Mercure's statements because the office does not comment on ongoing cases.
Mercure said he received the police reports during a hearing today in Geneva before Kane County Judge F. Michael Brown. The hearing was held for scheduling and filing of routine motions to preserve evidence. The police reports were not examined until after the hearing.
Brown and the attorney general's office were assigned to the case to avoid potential conflicts of interest in Lake County, where Hall served as chief judge until recently.
Mercure asked Brown to order Vernon Hills police to secure all video and audio tapes from the scene of Hall's encounter with police at 1:45 a.m. on Route 60, west of St. Mary's Road.
Brown also granted Mercure's request for an order requiring preservation of all radio traffic and all other relevant arrest materials.
However, Mercure said the police reports show there was no video recording.
Mercure said reports show one squad car was equipped with a camera that feeds video to a digital hard drive in a computer mounted in the car; the second car had a VHS recorder for its camera. The computer hard drive was full and captured no images, Mercure said the reports state, and the VHS system malfunctioned.
Hall was in Vernon Hills the night of his arrest attending a banquet for the Waukegan YMCA at the American Hotel Registry offices.
One of his attorneys, Mark Belokon of Waukegan, has said Hall was stopped for making a wide turn at routes 21 and 60.
Belokon said a police officer twice asked Hall to get out of his car. Both times Hall responded by asking if he was under arrest.
The officer, who at that point had been joined by another, sprayed Hall with pepper spray and removed him from the car, Belokon said.
Hall was taken to Condell Medical Center in Libertyville, where he was treated for an irregular heartbeat and released after about 15 hours.
During Wednesday's hearing, assistant attorneys general Richard Schwind and David Nikolic asked Brown to order Condell to secure three vials of blood drawn from Hall.
Police say Hall refused to submit to a Breathalyzer test during his arrest, and the blood could provide insight into his condition at the time of his arrest.
Hall, who Brown had previously said did not have to appear in court Wednesday, is scheduled for arraignment May 21 in Lake County.
He faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine if convicted of either charge, and could also be subject to sanctions from the state's Judicial Inquiry Board.