The top federal prosecutor in Northern Illinois came under fire Friday after a stunning mea culpa before a federal judge and the decision to suddenly drop all charges against the so-called ‘Broadview Six’ protesters the day prior.
Now, former prosecutors are speaking out about what they say is a ‘crisis’ in that office.
Defense attorney Chris Parente filed an emergency motion Friday requesting prosecutors involved in the ‘Broadview Six’ case preserve all communications about their grand jury proceedings. It comes a day after the release of federal court transcripts that outlined irregularities by prosecutors during the Grand Jury process.
“I’m sick to my stomach as a former prosecutor, I’m sick to my stomach as a citizen that has to live under this justice department that’s acting so recklessly,” said Parente, who had been pushing for months for the release of transcripts that would prove the grand jury errors.
On Thursday, U.S. Attorney Andrew Boutros dropped all charges, admitted errors in the grand jury process, and then acknowledged prosecutors redacted whole pages of transcripts that described those errors.
But newly unsealed transcripts from a tense hearing with Judge April Perry reveal the indiscretions: prosecutors allegedly “vouched” for the case in front of grand jurors—a distinct no-no—in addition to allegedly communicating with a juror outside the courtroom and excusing grand jurors who disagreed with prosecutors wanting to bring charges.
Perry said that the indiscretions “shocked” her.
“I have read hundreds, if not thousands of grand jury transcripts,” Perry said to prosecutors. “I have never seen the types of prosecutorial behavior before a grand jury that I saw in those transcripts.”
“The grand jury is a sacred process,” said former federal prosecutor Patrick Collins, who led the conviction of George Ryan. “It’s a process that’s opaque to the public. It is not something the public has a lot of insight on. The grand jury process requires prosecutors to be honorable.”
Collins says Thursday’s proceedings would have been unheard of in past years—as the Northern District U.S. Attorney’s office built a reputation for winning and operating with tight ethical standards.
“You cannot read that 60 pages as a former AUSA without feeling a knot in your stomach about it,” Collins said. “That office’s traditions and standards are very high. Not to say there haven’t been mistakes made from time to time. But there is a high bar, and there are generations that held each other accountable.
Perry says prosecutors now face the possibility of sanctions. Defense attorneys say they’ll seek to cross examine AUSA’s on the stand during those hearings to learn more about what happened behind closed doors.
Boutros claimed that the mistakes and the omissions in transcripts were not done intentionally to mislead the judge.
“I was upset as well,” Boutros told Perry yesterday. “I too have not seen conduct like that, which is why we dismissed the case.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office has not responded to repeated calls from NBC Chicago seeking comment.
