Coroner's attorney asks Kane judge to dismiss charges

Kane County Coroner Chuck West will learn in mid-March whether five felony misconduct charges against him will be dismissed.

In a legal longshot of sorts, defense attorney Gary Johnson has moved to throw out charges that West took a 24-inch television from a dead Carpentersville man in 2007 while in his official role as coroner.

Johnson argued before Judge T. Jordan Gallagher last week that Special Prosecutor Charles Colburn, of the Illinois Appellate Prosecutor's Office, erred when he answered a grand juror's question about what value the deceased man's property had to have.

Johnson said Colburn's response of, “It means any property that has any value to it at all” was inappropriate.

Johnson argued that Colburn overstepped his bounds as a prosecutor and therefore the entire indictment should be tossed.

“Mr. Colburn inadvertently gave inappropriate legal guidance,” Johnson said.

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

“They wanted to know if there was a dollar (amount) cutoff. There's not a dollar (amount) cutoff,” Colburn said, noting the television had a value of at least $250. “The state's response was accurate. It was fair. It was a working television set.”

West has pleaded not guilty to the charges.

If convicted, he faces two to five years in prison or probation.

Gallagher plans to review case law and is due to rule on the matter March 11.

Lecture in Batavia

In “How Can You Defend Someone Like That?” the Batavia Public Library's next New Lyceum Lecture Series program will be held from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 22 at the library, 10 S. Batavia Ave.

Dennis Shere, attorney and author of “The Last Meal: Defending an Accused Mass Murderer,” was a member of the defense team for Juan Luna, one of the two men convicted of the Brown's Chicken murders on Jan. 8, 1993 in Palatine.

Shere will talk about why a lawyer would defend such a client, what the attorney hopes to achieve, and the difference between justice and retribution.

For more information on the program, call (630) 879-1393.

Seven people were killed at the restaurant.

Luna was convicted in May 2007 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.

James Degorski also was convicted in September 2009 and sentenced to life in prison without parole.