The Circuit Attorney’s Office has a unit of its trial staff devoted specifically to handing violent street-crime offenses like murder, assault, and robbery. Presently it comprises five assistant prosecutors: Chris Desilets, Alex Polta, Natalia Ogurkiewicz, Nick Lake, and Sai Chigurupati.
Desilets recently blew out his knee and is on medical leave for the next month (and if he has any sense is spending that time looking for a new position). Polta is out on a combination vacation and medical leave — and cleaned out his office of personal belongings before he left (subtle, Alex!). Ogurkiewicz is leaving the office at the end of April and moving to Chicago. Lake has been hired by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and is awaiting the results of his background check. Chigurupati has had several significant medical issues recently that have caused him to go on and off the disabled list.
Kim Gardner has begun to assign murder cases to several of her assistant circuit attorneys who only have at most one prior jury trial under their belt.
Don’t ask yourself if it could get any worse. It can.
UPDATE: Being the trooper that he is, Desilets has gotten temporary relief and is back in slugging away. He has a trial scheduled next week.
To be fair- it’s not like Nick or Natalia were swimming in jury trial experience when they first joined the unit. Or plenty of the other individuals who have come and gone before now. They, and many before them, stepped up in a big way given the opportunity. The difference is that they leaned hard on the experience that was there in the unit and elsewhere in the office when they moved up, and Sean Ohagan is the only experienced prosecutor left on active duty to learn from.
Before Gardner, the violent crime unit was always manned by attorneys with years of previous jury trial experience. When she took over the office that unit was a powerhouse of top-notch prosecutors with loads of jury trial experience (Krug, Szczucinski, Warren, Carl, etc.).
I’m not trying to take anything away from the assistant circuit attorneys — they are giving their all and doing the best they can. They deserve nothing but praise. The destruction of the CAO rests on one person’s shoulders.
Good Lord, is there anyone coming to help us???
Wellinghoff, Dickey, Ogurkiewicz, Swinney, Teer, Polta, Lake – 7 ACA’s since the AG filed his case.
When will enough be enough?