"McCarthy set bail for 27 defendants during the session. She gave 22 of them recognizance bonds — including two charged with felony robbery. She refused to grant prosecutors’ requests to have several defendants held without bail, including one charged with attempted murder for allegedly beating, stomping, and choking his pregnant girlfriend for 20 minutes.
"But that’s not all. In one case, even though nobody asked for it, McCarthy took the unprecedented step of ordering a robbery victim to show up in court to be served with an order to protect the man who allegedly robbed her at gunpoint.
"In another case, prosecutors said a convicted felon admitted that a gun police found inside a purse in a car he was driving was his. Despite the alleged admission, McCarthy ruled there was no probable cause for the man to be detained because “obviously it’s not his purse.”
"And when prosecutors made routine requests for her to hold defendants without bail for violating the bond terms in pending felony cases, McCarthy refused. Twice.
"McCarthy is no stranger to the courts. Before being elected to the bench last year, she was a lawyer and supervisor in the public defender’s office. And, as strange as her decisions may seem, her Friday bond court session may provide Chicagoans with a glimpse of what lies ahead when Illinois outlaws cash bail in 2023." . . .
No comments:
Post a Comment