Crime & Law
Despite ‘Mistakes,’ Chicago’s US Attorney Says No Need for Special Prosecutor to Investigate ‘Broadview Six’ Case
(Department of Justice, Capitol News Illinois)
Chicago’s top federal prosecutor acknowledged “mistakes were made” in the prosecution of the botched “Broadview Six” case, but he rejected the former defendants’ call for a special prosecutor to investigate any potential wrongdoing.
In a 52-page filing published late Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros argued there’s no need for a criminal contempt hearing or a separate investigation into his office’s handling of the politically charged case by a special prosecutor.
“There can be no doubt that mistakes were made in the prosecution of this case,” Boutros wrote in the filing, while noting that his office has worked to rectify those issues by dismissing the case and not contesting the former defendants’ efforts to recoup legal fees.
He also stated his office has enacted “substantial root-cause reforms” as part of a “remediation plan” focused on grand jury procedures and transcripts.
“Although the mistakes in this case are regrettable, this is not one of the ‘rare situations when a prima facie case of criminal contempt has been made out,’ and so this Court should reject former Defendants’ request for a hearing on these matters or to appoint another attorney to investigate alleged misconduct,” Boutros wrote.
Attorneys for the former Broadview defendants have sought a special counsel to investigate, and if warranted, prosecute members of Boutros’ office for criminal contempt following bombshell allegations of grand jury misconduct.
In that motion, defense attorneys argued Boutros’ office appears to be putting all blame for those actions on one prosecutor — Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Mecklenburg — but the defense claims the misconduct “runs much deeper and indeed to the highest levels of the Chicago U.S. Attorney’s Office and likely to the Department of Justice in Washington D.C.”
A federal judge is expected to rule on the special prosecutor request later this month.
Oak Park Village Board Trustee Brian Straw, former 9th District congressional candidate Kat Abughazaleh, her campaign staffer Andre Martin, Democratic Committeeperson Michael Rabbitt, ex-Cook County Board candidate Catherine Sharp and musician Joselyn Walsh were charged following a confrontation on Sept. 26 between protesters and federal agents outside U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s west suburban processing facility.
Prosecutors alleged the defendants were part of a group that surrounded a government vehicle “with the intent to hinder and impede” a federal agent from proceeding to the Broadview facility and “discharging the duties of his office.” According to the initial indictment, the protesters “banged aggressively” on the vehicle’s windows and hood and broke one of its mirrors and a rear windshield wiper.
Unsealed transcripts from the grand jury proceedings in that case last October revealed Mecklenburg excused skeptical grand jurors, admitted speaking with grand jurors outside of the hearings and “vouched” for the merits of the allegations against the defendants.
Several Democratic lawmakers have since called on Boutros to resign his position over his handling of the case.
Boutros previously said his office has undertaken a review of more than 100 grand jury cases Mecklenburg indicted dating back as far as 2007 after he discovered “serious irregularities” in Mecklenburg’s “grand jury presentations.”
Boutros in his filing noted the Broadview case “involved irregularities during a time of immense pressure, upheaval, and emotion in the District because of Operation Midway Blitz,” but that his office has since enacted reforms he said are “designed to prevent the very issues that arose here.”
