Illinois Tax Payers Not Stuck Paying Legal Fees of Corrupt Prosecutor

[LegalScholar]

Supreme Court rules that state can refuse to foot prosecutor's legal bill
Decision reverses ruling on who pays for trial

The state high court ruled Thursday that the state attorney general does not have to fund the defense of a prosecutor accused of presenting false evidence, coercing witnesses and mainpulating testimony.

By David Heinzmann, Chicago Tribune reporter

May 23, 2013

The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday sided with Attorney General Lisa Madigan in her battle to refuse a taxpayer-funded defense for a former downstate prosecutor accused of wrongfully prosecuting two men in a murder case.

The ruling, authored by Justice Anne Burke, reverses a lower-court ruling that found Madigan's office must pay to represent the former Edgar County state's attorney, whose role in the 1987 prosecution of two men for the murder of a Paris, Ill., couple has been the subject of multiple lawsuits.

The convictions of Gordon "Randy" Steidl and Herbert Whitlock were ultimately overturned, and a federal court found claims of malicious prosecution credible. Steidl was released in 2004 and Whitlock in 2008. As their appeals and lawsuits unfolded, they alleged that the prosecutor, Michael McFatridge, presented false evidence, coerced witnesses and manipulated their testimony.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-supreme-court-wrongful-prosecution-20130524,0,2453656.story