Bianchi's Judge to Instruct May 3 for Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor

Winnebago County Judge Joseph McGraw, who last month ruled in favor of McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi in a swift directed verdict and is also presiding at Bianchi's upcoming trial, is scheduled to instruct at a training seminar for the Illinois Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) May 2 - 6 in Naperville. 

The upcoming training seminar features McGraw on a three-person panel discussion next Tuesday for pre-trial motions with LaSalle County State's Attorney Brian Towne and St. Clair County Chief of Criminal Division Steve Sallerson, according to a course schedule found on the Agency's website.  David O'Connor of Orland Park is shown as the course's coordinator.

In 2010, ILSAAP paid McGraw $625 per day in instructor's fees for two seminars. Since 2005, McGraw has received $18,404 in payments from ILSAAP for instructing at training seminars for assistant state's attorneys.  

The most recent payment to McGraw was $3,125 for services from Oct. 25 - 29, 2010, including a three-person panel discussion on pre-trial motions with O'Connor on Oct. 25th -- three days after McGraw's first hearing involving Bianchi.

Dalby's Prosecutor Received $150,000 in Contracts from Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor

Orland Park attorney David O'Connor, specifically requested by McHenry County State's Attorney Louis Bianchi to be the special prosecutor of Amy Dalby, has received contracts totaling $151,200 since 2007 from the Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP).

These contracts were for designing, developing and implementing training programs for the Agency.  State records show annual contracts of $25,000 for both 2007 and 2008, $35,200 in 2009, and $66,000 in 2010.  For the first two years, his contracts broke down his hourly rate of $145.  

Several of O'Connor's ILSAAP contracts were in effect while he was the special prosecutor of Dalby for the removal of computer files from the state's attorney's office.  During this time, ILSAAP had an active, but mostly quiet, role on behalf of Bianchi.  A contracted media consultant for ILSAAP began working extensively behind the scenes with Bianchi starting Oct. 1, 2007 and continued through June 2009.  Per the request of the McHenry County State's Attorney, ILSAAP's Chuck Colburn intervened on a petition for a special prosecutor to investigate Bianchi prior to Dalby's indictment in March 2009.

Colburn, now representing the McHenry County Board, argued before Judge Gordon Graham last week that special prosecutors should be paid at the same hourly rate as state's attorneys -- about $91.50 per hour.  

Special prosecutors of Bianchi have charged McHenry County $250 per hour, reportedly the same rate of O'Connor as special prosecutor of Dalby. Comparatively little media attention and public scrutiny were given to O'Connor's bill which totaled $65,000.  O'Connor's case against Dalby never made it to trial, as all felony charges were dropped within several months of her indictment.

Bianchi's Judge Received Payments from Illinois Office of the State's Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor

Winnebago County Judge Joseph McGraw, who last month ruled in favor of McHenry County State’s Attorney Louis Bianchi in a swift directed verdict, has received $18,404 from the Illinois Office of the State’s Attorneys Appellate Prosecutor (ILSAAP) since 2005 according to state documents.

ILSAAP was created to provide services to state's attorneys including appellate cases, certain drug-related cases and special prosecutions.  (725 ILCS 210)  The entity's Board of Governors is comprised of nine state's attorneys from around the state.  At the time of this publication, a photo of Bianchi standing with ILSAAP executive staff and members of the Board of Governors is in rotation on the home page of the entity's website. 

McHenry County is currently represented by ILSAAP in oversight and objections of bills submitted by outside special prosecutors in the same cases McGraw presides.  A resolution passed by the McHenry County Board in January reads that the county pays ILSAAP $30,000 annually for services to the office of the state's attorney.  

Vouchers and invoices of ILSAAP (listed under Agency 295) correlate with dates of training seminars for assistant state's attorneys where McGraw's name appears. Notations of "instructors fee" are found in documents for a dozen seminars; reimbursement of expenses is never mentioned. 

The most recent payment to McGraw was $3,125 for services from Oct. 25 - 29, 2010, the same dates of ILSAAP's "Basic Trial Advocacy Program" held in Springfield.  The course schedule of this training seminar, found on ILSAAP's website, shows that McGraw was part of a three-person panel discussion on pre-trial motions with David O'Connor of Orland Park on Oct. 25th -- three days after McGraw's first hearing involving Bianchi.

O'Connor was the special prosecutor specifically requested by Bianchi to investigate Amy Dalby, a former employee of the state's attorney's office and a key witness against Bianchi in the case before McGraw last month.  ILSAAP training seminars are coordinated by O’Connor who has had contracts renewed annually since 2007.

In September 2010, McGraw was appointed to preside over the combined 26 felony charges of conspiracy, misconduct and obstruction of justice by Bianchi and his secretary, Joyce Synek.  Bianchi opted for a bench trial in February.  Last month, McGraw declared Bianchi and Synek not guilty of all charges in an unusual directed verdict several hours after the prosecution rested their case and before the defense offered any evidence.  A second trial for additional felony charges against Bianchi and others is scheduled for June.

The Illinois Code of Judicial Conduct guides judges to avoid impropriety and the appearance of impropriety.