COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — Kane County State's Attorney Joseph McMahon will serve as a special prosecutor in the murder case against Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago Police officer who shot Laquan McDonald 16 times in 2014.
Cook County Judge Vincent Gaughan appointed McMahon Thursday — nearly six months after a coalition of local attorneys and activists began asking the court for a special prosecutor.
That coalition wasn't happy Thursday — arguing that Gaughan "could have selected someone with [an] understanding of Chicago and its most affected communities."
In a statement, the coalition praised Chief Judge Martin K. Leroy Jr., who last week appointed South Side native Patricia Brown Holmes as the special prosecutor who will investigate Chicago Police officers on the scene with Van Dyke the night McDonald was killed. Petitioners called Holmes, a black woman, a "stark contrast" from McMahon.
McMahon has been an attorney for 24 years — having previously served as an Assistant State's Attorney in Kane County, an Assistant Attorney General for the state of Illinois and a private attorney for a Chicago law firm. He has been Kane County's top prosecutor since 2010.
Kane County spokesman Christopher Nelson said McMahon has handled "approximately 60 murder cases" since 2010. Of those, 39 resulted in a finding of guilty, either by plea or verdict, Nelson said, while 18 are still pending.
"This is an important case with serious allegations, and it should be handled by a public prosecutor and professional prosecution team," McMahon told reporters Thursday. "I'm glad to accept this responsibility."
Joining McMahon on the special prosecution team are Jody Gleason, a Kane County prosecutor with 25 years of experience; and Marilyn Hite Ross, a career prosecutor from Winnebago County with 30 years under her belt.
Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez recused herself from Van Dyke's case in a surprise move in May. The recusal was likely a response to a February petition seeking a special prosecutor in the case — arguing that Alvarez couldn't be trusted because she had a "political alliance with the police union."
Van Dyke, 38, is charged with murdering 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times in October 2014. Video of the shooting sparked citywide protests that shut down the Mag Mile.
Alvarez has maintained there would be no conflict of interest if she were to handle Van Dyke's prosecution.
"Nevertheless," Alvarez said in a court filing, "because the primary goal of State's Attorney Alvarez is, and has always been, to obtain justice for Laquan McDonald, and ensure continuity in the handling of this important and complicated case, State's Attorney Alvarez has elected to recuse herself and her assistants from this matter ..."
During Thursday's hearing, Judge Gaughan gave McMahon's team permission to make a copy of the official court file for Van Dyke's case.
Gaughan also addressed two recent subpoenas filed by Dan Herbert, Van Dyke's defense attorney: one for the City of Chicago Office of Inspector General and a second for the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services.
The Inspector General has agreed to provide Herbert with information pertaining to Van Dyke's case so long as Gaughan removes any privileged information beforehand, the judge said.
DCFS, on the other hand, did not respond to Herbert's subpoena.
"That's bad practice," Gaughan said, noting that even President Barack Obama is required to comply with official subpoenas. "The president has an Army, Navy, the Marines and the Coast Guard. If the president has to comply, DCFS has to comply."
Gaughan said he will address any issues with DCFS at Van Dyke's next court hearing on Aug. 18.
Van Dyke is free on $1.5 million bail as he awaits trial in McDonald's murder.
According to prosecutors, McDonald had been stealing car radios and was armed with a three-inch blade when Chicago Police officers in Archer Heights called in a radio request for a Taser on Oct. 20, 2014.
Van Dyke and his partner responded to the call, but never specified whether they had a Taser. Within seconds of arriving on the scene, Van Dyke pulled his gun and emptied his clip into McDonald, shooting the teen 16 times, according to authorities.
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