Saturday, May 25, 2013
The Frankfort pediatrician charged with molesting five women in his doctor's office appeared in court.
Dr. Kishor Jain—the Frankfort pediatrician charged with molesting five women in his Colorado Avenue office and named as a defendant in five civil lawsuits—appeared in court this week. This time, Jain, 59, was around for his criminal case. The special prosecutor appointed to Jain's case said he produced police reports and video evidence, but needs time to come up with more material for the defense. Here's a look at what else was going on in court last week: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
A lawsuit against an imprisoned preacher from Crete and an Indiana megachurch topped the week's court news.
A former megachurch preacher sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in March for carrying on a sexual relationship with a teenage member of his congregation was sued in Will County court. In addition to preacher Jack Schaap, 55, of Crete, the First Baptist Church of Hammond was named as a defendant in the lawsuit. The parents of a teenage girl Schaap had sex with while he was pastor of the First Baptist Church of Hammond filed the lawsuit. The suit identifies the parents as "John Doe and Mary Doe," and the teen as "Jane Doe." The suit gives Jane Doe's date of birth as June 27, 1995. Here's what else was going on at the area's courthouses: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Saturday, May 4, 2013
A Caribbean music record company owner has a drug dog's lack of punctuality to thank for getting him out of a felony pot charge, but he still couldn't get his marijuana back.
Martin Scott was looking at a possible 30-year prison sentence after a police dog found pot in the trunk of his car back in September 2011. But a Cook County judge decided this week that the 41 minutes a state trooper made Scott wait for the dog to show up was too long, and ruled that the marijuana could not be used as evidence against him. Without that evidence, prosecutors decided to drop the case. Scott, 52, said he is the owner of Kingston, Jamaica, based UIM Records. He also said he obtained his marijuana legally in California and asked if he could have it back. He was refused. Scott left the Markham courthouse a happy—and free—man, and strolled away puffing on his electronic cigarette. Not too many other people written about last …
Friday, April 26, 2013
A Matteson man charged with a March murder on Nicholson Street pleaded not guilty.
A Matteson man charged with a deadly shooting on Nicholson Street pleaded not guilty to murder charges during his arraignment Friday morning. Ruben Wayne Washington, 32, appeared before Judge Robert Livas and was returned to the Will County jail, where he is being held on a $3 million bond. Washington allegedly gunned down 31-year-old Antonio Tyler March 30 in an apartment on Nicholson Street. The Joliet police captured Washington five days after the slaying. He was taken into custody at a residence in the St. Patrick neighborhood. Washington caught an additional charge of possession of a controlled substance when he was arrested. He was allegedly holding cocaine. At his bond hearing the day after his arrest, Washington claimed to have "no…
Monday, April 22, 2013
A Joliet mother was still sad and angry after her son's killer was sentenced to 35 years in prison.
After the man who gunned down her son was sentenced to 35 years in prison, Treasona Bew said it wasn't enough. "I'm not satisfied," Bew said in the courthouse hallway Monday morning. "I can never be satisfied." Bew's son, Mark Bew, was shot to death at age 19 in August 2009. Two men, Calvin "Cal Cal" Russell, 23, and Jeremy Travis, 22, were charged in connection with the killing. Russell pleaded guilty on April 5 to charges of attempted murder and aggravated battery with a firearm. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison. Travis pleaded guilty to one count of murder last month and was sentenced Monday. Travis was already pulling a 12 year sentence for aggravated battery with a firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm in connection with…
Saturday, April 20, 2013
A former Plainfield North gym teacher pleaded guilty to meeting a teen for sex. And that was just one of the things going on in court this week.
More than two years after the police caught her in a car with a half-dressed student from the high school where she was a teacher, Ashley Blumenshine copped a plea. Blumenshine, a 30-year-old former Plainfield North gym teacher, will have to do 11 days in jail. She will also spend two years on sex offender probation and 10 yeas on the Illinois sex offender registry. She tearfully apologized before she was taken into custody to start doing her time. Let's look at what else was going on in the area's courthouses this past week: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
Friday, April 12, 2013
This time, only one person was ejected from the courtroom during the brief hearing.
About a half dozen spectators were tossed from the courtroom during alleged mother-murderer Charles McCullum's bond hearing last month. At his arraignment Friday morning, only one got the boot. The arraignment was over in a matter of minutes. But in addition to the spectator ordered out of Judge Robert Livas' courtroom, another had to be escorted back to the gallery by a bailiff after he approached the bench and stood alongside McCullum before the judge. "I just want to stand next to him," the man told the bailiff as he was led away. After the hearing, the man claimed to be McCullum's older brother but would not give his name. "I'm just shocked right now," the man said. "I really don't have any words." Court records show that McCullum has …
Charles McCullum now faces two counts of aggravated battery in addition to the murder and concealing a homicide. His mother's body still remains missing in the Des Plaines River.
A Joliet man charged with dumping his mother into the Des Plaines River after strangling her and hammering a knife into her body with a baseball bat now faces additional charges. An indictment filed Thursday in Will County court against 21-year-old Charles McCullum includes two counts of aggravated battery on top of the murder and concealing a homicide charges he already faced. McCullum is scheduled to be arraigned Friday morning. A prosecutor said McCullum killed his 54-year-old mother, Jeanie Parker, after she "upset" him last month. The upset McCullum strangled Parker, said Assistant State's Attorney Peter Wilkes, and left her for dead in the Fifth Avenue apartment they shared. When McCullum returned he realized his mother was still …
Saturday, April 6, 2013
A New Lenox man spoke of his "horrific" ordeal in the county jail after he was arrested for a murder someone else was wanted for.
We started the week off by talking with the New Lenox man jailed for two weeks for a murder allegedly committed by someone else with the same name. Pedro Hernandez, 67, said his time in the Will County jail was "horrific," and that he's looking for a lawyer to talk to about filing a lawsuit. But Hernandez's ordeal was just one of the things going on last week. There was also: Check out all these stories and more on our Facebook page.
The man charged with a Saturday afternoon slaying on Nicholson Street denied knowing why he was in being held in jail on a $3 million bond.
Moments after a Matteson man charged with a deadly shooting on Nicholson Street claimed to have "no idea what's going on" during his first court appearance, his lawyer warned him to keep his mouth shut. "The woods are full of snitches that are trying to get you to say something while you're in custody that can come back and haunt you," public defender Kurt Leinweber told 32-year-old alleged murderer Ruben Wayne Washington. Will County Judge Roger Rickmon also cautioned Washington that the hearing was being recorded. Washington made his court appearance the day after his arrest by the Joliet police. He was reportedly captured at a residence in the St. Patrick neighborhood Thursday afternoon. Washington was wanted for the Saturday slaying of…
Fester Bestertester
4:22 pm on Monday, May 20, 2013
Drunkenly driving and drunkenly lying on the street. huh. more ›