Facing battery charge, Skoien wife files for divorce
On the same day that she faced a hearing on assault charges in Rolling Meadows, the estranged wife of Palatine Township Republican Committeeman Gary Skoien filed for divorce, along with an emergency petition to prevent him from removing the couple's three children from the state.
Eni Skoien "is fearful that the Respondent will move the children out of the country (this weekend) thereby preventing her from having any visitation with her children," said the motion, which will be heard at 9 a.m. today at the Daley Center. The suit does not explain why Eni Skoien fears this.
The divorce petition also seeks to vacate the couple's premarital agreement, claiming the document was not prepared in Eni Skoien's native language and that she was not afforded adequate legal representation to evaluate it. It also claims Gary Skoien's disclosures about his finances in the agreement were "less than accurate."
The case has taken on political overtones, with renowned attorney David Schippers, chief investigative counsel for the Bill Clinton impeachment, signing on as Eni Skoien's co-counsel along with Inverness attorney Nancy Lee Carlson.
"I felt the woman needed a committed defense, and I'm willing to take it on," said Schippers, adding that he believes the adverse publicity has prevented his client from fighting back.
Eni Skoien's Thursday began in a Rolling Meadows courtroom where she appeared for a hearing on a misdemeanor domestic battery charge stemming from a complaint by Gary Skoien. Barrington-Inverness police say she hit her husband with closed fists and a toy guitar in the early morning hours of March 8 after finding him at the couple's home with two women.
The police report said Gary Skoien, a former Cook County Republican Party chairman, acknowledged the women were prostitutes, but he later denied that and sought unsuccessfully to have the report changed.
Within days of the incident, Skoien filed an order of protection against his wife that bars her from the home and from having any contact with their minor children unless they initiate it.
Skoien did not attend his wife's hearing Thursday. Assistant State's Attorney Ketki Steffen indicated that Skoien had been in court earlier but told her he couldn't stay. Skoien's attorney Gregory Nikitas stated that "for family reasons" his client could not remain at the courthouse and that Skoien knew the case would be continued for discovery.
Steffen requested a court date soon. Schippers said he and Carlson have requested a jury trial.
"We want to have a jury decide her fate," he said. "We want a jury, and anyone else who's interested, to hear her side of the story."
Eni Skoien next appears in court April 2. If convicted of the Class A misdemeanor, she could be sentenced to up to one year in prison. She could also receive a one-year conditional discharge.