Urbana attorney Keith E. Fruehling of Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen was elected Oct. 8 by the ISBA Board of Governors to fill an outside-Cook-County seat on the American Bar Association House of Delegates.
Fruehling, a downstate under-age-37 member of the Board of Governors, replaces ISBA past president Timothy L. Bertschy of Peoria, who was elected to the ABA Board of Governors.
ISBA past president Cheryl I. Niro and Robert A. Clifford of Chicago, have said they intend to run for a three-year term as Illinois state delegate to the ABA House. Nominating petitions must be filed by Friday, Dec. 10.
The ISBA Board of Governors has scheduled three meetings in 2005 after the conclusion of the Midyear Meeting next month at the Sheraton Chicago Hotel
The dates and locations are Friday, Jan. 28, at the Westin River North Hotel, Chicago; April 8 at a Chicago-area location, and May 13 at the Renaissance Hotel, Springfield.
The 2005 Annual Meeting is scheduled to take place Thursday through Saturday, June 16 to 18, at The Abbey on Lake Geneva, where Robert K. Downs will succeed Ole Bly Pace III as president.
Bloodsworth's Death Row ordeal is compelling lesson
A review by Bill Feltt of "Bloodsworth: The True Story of the First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA," by Maryland attorney Tim Junkin (Chapel Hill: Algonquin 2004). Junkin and Kurt Bloodsworth, who was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to Death Row, discussed the book during a program Sept. 28 at the Northwestern University School of Law.
* * *
Tim Junkin weaves a tale of intrigue and courage into a scathing indictment of law and order in America in "Bloodsworth: The True Story of The First Death Row Inmate Exonerated by DNA Evidence."
He pulls no punches, attacking the entire justice system. The police, prosecution, courts, corrections, even the defense feel the sting of his pen.
In Junkin's first work of non-fiction, a Grisham-esque mystery soon emerges. Suspected of the brutal rape and murder of 9-year-old Dawn Hamilton, Kurt Bloodsworth finds himself spiraling downward into a vortex of injustice.
Police seem dead set on pinning the crime on Bloodsworth, despite numerous suspects who fit the profile more than he. The police ignore them and relentlessly pursue Bloodsworth, inevitably leading to an electrifying twist at the book's end.
Immediately, the reader is ensnared by Bloodsworth's dilemma. Two witnesses (6- and 7-year-old boys) provide the police with pivotal evidence, a sketch of a man seen with the victim.
The likeness compels the arrest of Bloodsworth, who had been a waterman, a crabber, on Chesapeake Bay. Unfortunately, the sketch loosely resembles him. But, according to Junkin, the police fail to follow accepted procedure in extracting the rendering.
A list of questionable witnesses, some of whom admitted to smoking pot the day of the murder, line up to confirm the boys' description of the man.
Yet other witnesses swear that Bloodsworth couldn't have been the murderer. They say he was with them at the time of Dawn's death, although some of the witnesses for the defense admit to being high on marijuana, too.
The police give short shrift and ignore other more plausible suspects, including a man wanted for a series of child rapes in nearby Fells Point. Despite a tip that the suspect in the rapes resembles the composite sketch, police investigating the Hamilton murder-rape fail to follow up on the suspect.
After hearing both sides, the jury convicts Bloodsworth of capital murder and rape. In March 1985, a Baltimore County judge sentences him to Maryland's gas chamber, which looms over his daily existence.
Junkin places readers inside Bloodsworth, where they experience first hand his oppressive despair and frustration inside the walls of a prison that resembles a medieval castle more than a modern correctional center.
Learning that a pedophile-murderer may be in their midst, prisoners hurl threats and heave urine through a slot in Bloodsworth's steel door. Cockroaches constantly stir in the dimly lighted cell, and drop from the ceilings onto his body.
On appeal, Bloodsworth earns a second trial and again is convicted. Uncomfortable with insubstantial evidence, however, the judge sentences him to two consecutive life terms. Bob Morin, a noted civil rights and death penalty defense attorney, hears Kurt's plea and agrees reluctantly to take his case.
Fearing loss of fragile physical evidence, Morin moves quickly to preserve it. A stain found on the little girl's panties is sent to a California lab, despite the FBI lab finding that no spermatozoon is present.
Because the amount on the material was small, Morin feared any DNA would be destroyed in testing. Despite the risk, Bloodsworth insists on taking the chance, and a California lab tests the stain for DNA, using PCR technology.
The test shows that the semen could not have come from Bloodsworth. The FBI later confirms the results.
After a short tug-of-war between the prosecutor's office and Morin, a judge orders the prisoner freed. On June 28, 1993, Kurt Bloodsworth the first death row inmate cleared by DNA evidence walks through the gates of the Maryland prison.
The governor of Maryland pardons Bloodsworth In December 1993, but his nearly 10-year-old ordeal doesn't end there.
Out of prison, Kurt launches a campaign to right the wrong done to him and to prevent future wrongful convictions. He spreads his message of injustice across the country and world. He speaks during a congressional committee hearing.
His voice sounds a clear voice of reason over the clamorous calls for rushed execution of men convicted of heinous crimes against society.
The state refuses to fully concede to Bloodsworth's innocence. Although Morin and Bloodsworth campaign for prosecutors to enter the DNA profile into the Maryland DNA database, Dawn Hamilton's killer remains free. The prosecutors cite a lack of funding.
In 2003, Kurt gets the phone call he's been waiting for since the beginning of his nightmarish trek through the system. Ann Brobst, a member of the team who prosecuted Bloodsworth, tells him the state has made a cold hit on the profile and has arrested the murder suspect.
The DNA profile matches Kimberly Shay Ruffner, Bloodsworth's former prison mate and weightlifting partner, whom the state has imprisoned for attempted murder and rape of a Fells Point woman. Ruffner is charged and convicted.
Junkin's book sparkles with clever, lucid and concise writing without miring in overdone, maudlin phraseology. The reader is compelled to turn the pages until the book reaches its dramatic conclusion.
With "Bloodsworth," Junkin joins the ranks of a host of true crime writers as well as those who would abolish the death penalty for all time. It is a must-read for anyone interested in injustice.
Perhaps in the book's wake, coupled with death penalty reforms and moratoriums, wrongful convictions will no longer cast shame or suspicion on our revered system of justice.
* * *
Freelance writer Bill Feltt of Robinson is a former managing editor of the ISBA Bar News. He may be contacted by e-mail at feltt2000@yahoo.com.
Kurtis writes on death penalty
Chicago attorney and television personality Bill Kurtis has written a book, "The Death Penalty on Trial," that documents his belief that capital punishment is wrong.
The possibility for error in our justice system is too great to permit the death penalty to stand as society's ultimate punishment, Kurtis decided after studying incidents for his television documentaries, "Cold Case Files" and "American Justice."
He will sign copies of the book and discuss his investigations and conclusions during an authors luncheon Tuesday, Nov. 23, at the Union League Club of Chicago. The program is open to members and guests.
Jurist's book chronicles persecution in wild west
Cook County Judge Sheldon Gardner will discuss his new book, "The Converso Legacy," during the Nov. 23 luncheon meeting of the Jewish Judges Association in the ISBA Chicago Regional Office.
Based on years of research, Gardner's book tells about Russian Jews who were forced to convert to Catholicism during the Spanish Inquisition and the virulent anti-Semitism, and even murder, their descendants faced after immigrating to Mexico and New Mexico.
Published in September by Pitspopany Press In New York City as a work of fiction for ages 10 to 14, "The Converso Legacy" is available in both paperback and hard cover. Access www.pitspop any.com for information.
Recent IICLE offerings
William J. Anaya of Arnstein & Lehr, Chicago, a member of the ISBA Real Estate Law Section Council and Environmental Law Section Council, is general editor of "Commercial Real Estate," a two-volume handbook published by the Illinois Institute for Continuing Legal Education.
Anaya also is author of a chapter on Environmental Considerations in Commercial Real Estate Transactions, and two other members of the Real Estate Law Section have contributed other chapters.
They are ISBA Assembly member Brian P. Liston of Liston & Lafakis, Chicago, on Eminent Domain, and Jack H. Tibbetts of the Village of Oak Park, on Zoning Issues: Municipality Perspective.
IICLE also has published the 2004 edition of "Illinois Civil Trial Evidence," which includes a chapter on Methods and Sufficiency of Proof. Co-author is ISBA Assembly member Willis R. Tribler, a member of the Bench and Bar Section Council and Illinois Bar Journal Editorial Board.
ISBA past president Fred Lane and Scott D. Lane, a member of the Tort Law Section Council, are co-authors of the chapter on Opinion Evidence.
New axiom: Security, security, security!
By Alan Pearlman
"The Electronic Lawyer"
Just as the old real estate axiom, location-location-location, keeps the buyers on their toes, so it goes in the legal profession with security-security-security.
Managing partners keep law firms tightly geared to making their computers as secure as possible in these days of heightened threats.
What is one to do? How can you make sure that as a road warrior carrying laptops, Palm PC's and the like your files are safe and secure if you happen to become the unsuspecting victim of a theft?
Beyond that, how can you securely transfer delicate and confidential information from your computer and carry it with you to another machine, perhaps halfway around the world?
A new product that has been long awaited has arrived. I highly recommend that you run, not walk, to purchase the new BioSecure Fingerprint USB drive. This small, 3x1-inch flash drive takes all the worry out of security for you and your law firm.
The drive, which some like to refer to as a thumb drive, is based on both USB technology and Bio-Metric Finger Print Identification. The device is in the form of a small USB adaptor with a built-in flash memory of 128 MB that functions as a normal USB flash memory drive.
This system offers file access and security control with the utmost in flexibility. A small area on top of the drive offers the security of your fingerprint, using advanced biometric technology to lock up any file or folder on your computer, while keeping access to its resources open.
Think of the advantages of this small but mighty unit. Only you can open your important and confidential files, which are always protected by your fingerprint. You also have the option of using up to three different fingers to lock and unlock files.
Additionally, a great deal of disk space is available with its 128 MB, allowing you to carry any and all of your important materials on the small drive.
Another feature is that with this drive you can also carry all of your passwords and Internet Explorers favorites on the USB drive, and then open them on any PC. This gives you the functionality of not having to remember many of your long passwords and favorite Web sites.
Among enhanced features of the BioSecure are that it comes with all the software you need to install it, and has a high definition 128x128 True Print technology-based pixel array that is compatible with Windows, Win98/2000/XP. It has an ultrahard surface coating that won't wear out with usage.
I have used the device to lock my Tablet PC, my Notebook PC, my iPAQ Pocket PC, and many other USB-enabled devices without the slightest problem. I finally have the necessary security device to feel safe, no matter where my travels take me.
BioSecure is distributed by Alestron Inc., 2158 Old Middlefield Way, Mountain View, CA 94043. You can also find it at www.AsiaZest.comor by calling (650) 969-8535. The cost of the product on sale at the present time is $149.95.
* * *
Northbrook attorney Alan Pearlman serves on the ISBA Assembly and is a member of the editorial board of the ABA General Practice Technology and Practice Guide. He is co-author of "The Busy Lawyer's Guide to Microsoft Word for Windows '95," published by West Group. Contact Pearlman at www.TheElectronicLawyer.comor (847) 205-4383.
For more information about current trends, ISBA members may subscribe to the newsletter published by the Committee on Legal Technology. It is available online as well as in printed form. Call (800) 252-8908 to become a subscriber.
Real estate law seminar issues include funding
An ISBA Real Estate Law Update will be presented Thursday, Nov. 18, at the University of Chicago Gleacher Center in downtown Chicago.
Program coordinators are Real Estate Law Section Council past chair Samuel H. Levine of Arnstein & Lehr, Chicago; secretary Ted M. Niemann of Schmiedeskamp, Robertson, Neu & Mitchell, Quincy, and associate newsletter editor Myles L. Jacobs of Brumund & Jacobs, Joliet.
Jacobs, also the moderator, will open the seminar at 9 a.m. with introductory remarks. The schedule follows.
9:10 a.m. - Case Law Update, with section council vice chair Joseph R. Fortunato of Fortunato, Farrell, Davenport & Arnold, Westmont, and associate newsletter editor Steven B. Bashaw of Oak Brook.
10:10 a.m. - Legislative Update, with section council member Marylou Lowder Kent of Land Title Services of Illinois, Springfield.
10:40 a.m. - Statute of Limitations, with Richard F. Bales of Chicago Title Insurance Co.
11:10 a.m. - Terminating Interests in Real Estate: Representing Prospective Purchaser at Foreclosure Sale, with Samuel Levine.
11:55 a.m. - Luncheon period.
1 p.m. - Considerations in Drafting Subject-to-Financing Purchase Agreement Clauses, with A. J. Rossi of National City Mortgage Corp., Joliet.
1:30 p.m. - Real Estate Exemptions, with Myles Jacobs.
2 p.m. - State and Municipal-Assisted Commercial Real Estate Financing, with Thomas N. Jacob of Bloomington.
2:45 p.m. - Private Investment Real Estate Financing, with section council member Sandra J. Birdsall of Hasselberg, Williams, Grebe & Snodgrass, Peoria.
3:30 p.m. - Considerations in Conventional Real Estate Financing, with Gregory A. Thorpe of Kubasiak, Fylstra, Reizen & Rotunno, Chicago.