Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans
Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans announced the appointments of three new acting presiding judges to head the Criminal, County and Traffic Divisions on January 4, 2021.
The appointments include historic firsts for the Circuit Court. Honorable Erica L. Reddick becomes the first woman to head the court’s Criminal Division, replacing Judge LeRoy K. Martin, Jr., who has moved to the state’s appellate court. Honorable Sanjay T. Tailor will become the new acting presiding judge of the County Division, following the retirement of Judge Sharon Sullivan. Judge Tailor will be the state’s first Asian-American presiding judge. Honorable Diann K. Marsalek, currently Supervising Judge of the First Municipal District’s Traffic Court (Chicago), will take on the newly-created role of acting presiding judge over all traffic judges in Cook County.
Prosecutors move to reverse 6 convictions tied to Sgt. Ronald Watts
By Sun-Times Media Wire article
CHICAGO - The Cook County state’s attorney’s office moved to vacate the wrongful convictions of six people as part of the office’s ongoing review of the misconduct of corrupt former
In a virtual court hearing Tuesday, Cook County Judge Leroy K. Martin, Jr., granted the motions to vacate six convictions tied to Watts, the state’s attorney’s office said in a statement.
Since 2016, Cook County prosecutors have reversed a total of 100 cases involving former Sergeant Watts, State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in the statement.
Former corrupt Chicago Police Department officer Sgt Ronald Watts, prosecutors move to reverse 6 convictions abc7chicago.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from abc7chicago.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Sun-Times file
Six more cases tied to former Chicago Police Sgt. Ronald Watts were dropped Tuesday, bringing the total number of convictions vacated in connection to the corrupt cop to 101.
In a brief, live-streamed hearing, the convictions against the six men were vacated and then the charges reinstated before they were dropped by the Cook County state’s attorney’s office.
“The seeds of distrust for our criminal justice system run deeply in communities most impacted by violence because of people in power like Sergeant Watts and his cronies who targeted and criminally preyed on these communities, leaving these neighborhoods feeling like their voice didn’t matter,” State’s Attorney Kim Foxx said in a statement after the hearing.