Domestic violence defendants are being detained much more often since reassignment of embattled judge

Lacramioara “Mirela” Beldie was 54 when her husband fatally stabbed her within the 5600 block of West Leland round 2:30 p.m. on November 19. An off-duty Chicago police officer noticed the assault unfolding and fired pictures at her husband, who fled the scene. The officer additionally suffered a gunshot wound to his leg, however officers haven’t stated if it was self-inflicted.

Constantin Beldie, 57, was discovered lifeless about three hours later inside his automotive close to his dwelling, a couple of block from the place the assault occurred. Officers didn’t say how Beldie died, though an officer on the scene reported that he had suffered a gunshot wound to his shoulder.

However, new info reveals, that isn’t how he died. The medical expert’s investigation not too long ago concluded that Constantin Beldie died from the intentional inhalation of his automotive’s exhaust, data present. His loss of life was dominated a suicide.

Only a day earlier than the assault, Beldie pleaded not responsible to aggravated home battery by strangulation, tried kidnapping, and different felonies stemming from allegations that he violently attacked Mirela in October.

Transcripts of Beldie’s preliminary courtroom look in October present prosecutors described vital violence as they requested Choose Thomas Nowinski to maintain him in jail as a security and flight danger. Nowinski rejected the state’s detention petition and despatched Beldie dwelling on a GPS monitor, saying the state failed to point out that the ankle bracelet wouldn’t be sufficient to mitigate any dangers.

A couple of week after the assault, Cook dinner County Chief Choose Timothy Evans introduced that Nowinski was now not dealing with “home violence or orders of safety” in mild of “nameless threats” Nowinski had obtained since his ruling within the Beldie case made headlines.

Days earlier than Evans introduced the adjustments to Nowinski’s duties, CWBChicago reported that Nowinski rejected detention requests 60% of the time between mid-October and mid-November.

We discovered 85 circumstances throughout that interval when prosecutors requested Nowinski to maintain a defendant jailed. He authorized simply 34 of these petitions, or 40%. By comparability, a roster of judges who dealt with comparable home circumstances throughout weekend courtroom periods granted petitions 57% of the time throughout the identical interval.

Are detention petitions being granted extra typically now that Nowinski will not be dealing with the circumstances? Thus far, sure.

Since November 25, we’ve discovered 87 detention petitions offered to judges masking Nowinski’s outdated duties. Court docket data present that 4 judges have dealt with these circumstances, they usually granted 56% of the requests. That’s a lot larger than Nowinski’s 40% and practically equivalent to the 57% granted by weekend judges in our earlier evaluation.

Three of the 4 judges granted greater than 60% of detention petitions offered to them: Torrie Corbin, Sabra Ebersole, and Elizabeth Ryan. Choose Michael Hogan, who dealt with 43 of the 87 circumstances, granted simply 51%.