Judge Rips Top Prosecutors Over Conflict of Interest

“Ms. Foxx basically set you up for failure because this was such a blatantly obvious conflict of interest that I find it shocking..."

Reviewing a possible conflict of interest in the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, a Cook County judge on Monday condemned the explanations of a newly-hired top prosecutor in the Kimberly Foxx administration saying “I find the answers that you have been given to this Court duplicitous. I do find there is a per se conflict of interest with this specific Assistant State's Attorney, and you've conflicted yourself off this case, so to speak, in addition to any other cases in my courtroom.”

Judge Michael McHale rejected claims by Cook County State’s Michelle MBekeani that her role as top prosecutor in the Conviction Review Unit did not conflict with Mbekeani’s ties to an organization that puts convicted offenders in touch with defense attorneys.

The issue arose from a December news article by Chicago City Wire, citing Mbekeani as founder/CEO of an organization called periodsentence.com,at the same time Mbekeani was appointed by Cook County State’s Attorney Kimberly Foxx to head the Conviction Review Unit, which considers wrongful conviction claims. Chicago City Wire quoted an unnamed former prosecutor who called Foxx’s appointment a “sickening conflict of interest.”

“Talk about the wolf watching the hen house. Imagine the business she’s going to get when attorneys know that she’s the one reviewing the cases,” the Chicago City Wire article quoted.

Shortly after Chicago City Wire published the story, CWB Chicago published a story quoting Mbekeani that Periodsentence.com was not a company, but a class project.

In Monday’s hearing, McHale assailed those claims by Mbekeani when she tried to maintain in a court hearing before McHale that the organization was not a company.

“One cannot represent conflicting interests or undertake to discharge inconsistent duties. When the appearance of a disabling conflict is clear, a per se conflict of interest exists. Unfortunately, I find that is exactly what we have here.”

“A prosecutor who has a duty to vigorously represent the victims of crimes and their families, and cannot also, at the same time, appear to be deeply invested in working with the defense and their efforts for their clients…A Prosecutor takes an oath to be an advocate of the victims of crimes, and families of the victims of crime. Our criminal courts work as an adversarial system. We have defense attorneys representing the accused on one side, and we're supposed to have a prosecutor representing the People on the other. When those roles become entangled and blurred, as they most certainly were in this case, the public loses trust and confidence in our criminal justice system. It creates an appearance that something unethical is occurring,” McHale said.  

McHale condemned Mbekeani’s boss, Kimberly Foxx as well.

“So, to some degree, I do sympathize with you, Counsel, because in my opinion, Ms. Foxx basically set you up for failure because this was such a blatantly obvious conflict of interest that I find it shocking that she didn't see it coming that the organization was not a company… But, indeed, as we've seen before, Ms. Foxx's knowledge of conflicts law is not the best.”

Martin Preib is a retired Chicago Police officer. An author of three books, The Wagon and Other Stories From the City, Crooked City, and Burn Patterns, Mr. Preib’s written work has also been published in Playboy, Virginia Quarterly Review, New City, and Tin House.  For his essay appearing in Virginia Quarterly Review, Mr. Preib was awarded the Staige D. Blackford Award for Nonfiction in 2005. In addition to his role with the City of Chicago, Mr. Preib briefly served as the Second Vice President of the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 7.