Lake County sheriff, state’s attorney sued in federal court
A McHenry man who was once accused of threatening a judge has sued members of the Lake County state’s attorney’s office and the sheriff’s office in federal court, accusing them of malicious prosecution and conspiracy.
The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court on behalf of Adam Rotheimer, 29. The charge against Rotheimer that is at the heart of the lawsuit was dismissed in 2010, a few months after it was brought by Lake County prosecutors.
The case was transferred to McHenry County before it was dropped.
Among the eight defendants in Rotheimer’s lawsuit are Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Waller and Sheriff Mark Curran.
In response, Chief Deputy State’s Attorney Dan Jasica defended the work of the officials targeted in the suit.
“Both the sheriff’s office and the state’s attorney’s office take credible threats of violence against public officials, particularly judges, extremely seriously,” Jasica said.
Sheriff’s Chief Wayne Hunter had not seen the lawsuit as of Wednesday afternoon. He said the office generally did not comment on pending litigation.
No McHenry County officials are targeted in the suit.
Tuesday’s action was filed by Rotheimer’s sister, Barrington resident Denise Rotheimer, a one-time political candidate and court-system critic who has repeatedly accused the Lake County state’s attorney’s office of wrongdoing in other cases.
According to authorities, the new lawsuit and court documents from the 2010 criminal case, Adam Rotheimer was receiving treatment at a Woodstock mental health facility for schizophrenia in March 2010 when a clinical social worker overheard him talking about Lake County Associate Judge Brian Hughes, stating he was going to get an AK-47 and “kill them all.”
Hughes had sentenced Rotheimer to court supervision earlier that year after Rotheimer pleaded guilty to driving under the influence.
The social worker contacted Lake County sheriff’s police about the statement, according to court filings. Rotheimer was charged with threatening a public official, a felony.
The charge was dropped after a McHenry County judge there threw out the state’s only evidence. Judge Joseph Condon declared the alleged threat was a privileged communication with a mental health professional and was not admissible at trial.
Rotheimer’s lawsuit acknowledges the social worker called authorities about the perceived threat. It also claims the charges were filed against Rotheimer even though the social worker didn’t believe he would act on the threat.
According to the lawsuit, Rotheimer could not have followed through on the threat because he was hospitalized at the time. Additionally, the action claims the charges were improperly filed because Rotheimer’s comments were made in McHenry County, not Lake County.
The lawsuit also says the defendants deliberately withheld evidence, among other allegations, thus violating Rotheimer’s rights.
Jasica said there is “absolutely no merit” to Rotheimer’s allegations.
“Each of the defendants acted appropriately,” he said.
Rotheimer is asking for unspecified financial damages.