Trial for Lake County judge pushed back again as defense tries to limit evidence
The start of Lake County Circuit Judge David Hall’s trial on drunken-driving charges is delayed as defense attorneys try to limit what evidence can be introduced to a jury.
Hall’s attorney, Douglas Zeit of Waukegan, filed three motions in court April 30, the most important seeking to limit the testimony of Vernon Hills Police Officer Mike Sosnoski to his own observations. If successful, it would bar testimony about what arresting officer Jesse Goldsmith saw during Hall’s DUI arrest on April 26, 2008.
According to court documents, Sosnoski arrived on the scene after Goldsmith, and could not know what Goldsmith saw or thought prior to pepper spraying Hall during the late-night arrest.
Goldsmith died of a heart attack shortly after Hall’s arrest in 2008. Judges have said other officers can testify to the circumstances of the arrest.
Zeit is also seeking to ban prosecutors from introducing any testimony about Hall’s driving that night because Goldsmith is not available to testify about it. Zeit also wants to bar any testimony on audio and video tapes that were destroyed by the prosecution in the past four years.
Those motions will be reviewed in Lake County Court on June 12, pushing Hall’s new trial date to July 16. His trial had been scheduled to start May 7.
Hall was arrested after Vernon Hills police said his car was driving in the wrong lane after making a right turn at routes 21 and 60.
Goldsmith reported detecting alcohol on Hall’s breath when he spoke with the judge, then ordered Hall to get out of the car, court documents show.
After Hall refused, he was pepper sprayed and dragged out of the vehicle by Goldsmith and Sosnoski. Hall was arrested and taken to Advocate Condell Medical Center in Libertyville where he was treated for his injuries and his blood was drawn, according to authorities.
A blood test revealed Hall’s blood alcohol level was 0.107, above the legal definition of intoxication of 0.08 percent. However, the appellate court banned prosecutors from using the blood evidence in December because of concerns over how it was handled, authorities said.
Kane County Judge F. Keith Brown was appointed to hear the case to avoid a conflict of interest with Lake County judges, and the state attorney general’s office is prosecuting the case to avoid a similar conflict with local prosecutors.
Hall has remained on the bench throughout the case, and is hearing cases in the civil law division. He was diagnosed with ALS in 2011 and announced earlier this month he will retire in July.
“Because of that, it made sense to move on now,” Hall told the Daily Herald in a recent email.
If convicted of either offense, Hall could get up to one year in jail but a sentence of court supervision is more likely.