Tribune Reporter’s Disturbing Omissions…Again…

Tribune reporter Madeline Buckley unleashes another round of media activism against Cook County judge…

It shouldn’t surprise the few remaining readers of the Chicago Tribune that “reporter” Madeline Buckley just happened to omit asking a central question in yet another story attacking a judge in the crosshairs of the exoneration movement.

The Tribune’s willingness to become unapologetic activists in the guise of journalism offers a view to the decline of the American media at a time when the public needs a strong, vibrant, and independent press more than ever.

Buckley’s journalism sins have been rampant as of late. She ignored, for example, the fact that one of Foxx’s top prosecutors, Michelle Mbekeani—a strong advocate for releasing inmates on the most ludicrous grounds—was accused of lying to a trial judge by the judge himself. Buckley dismissed the allegations against Mbekeani by the judge as a “spat.”

Her coverage of the 2011 killing of off-duty police officer Clifton Lewis—in which charges against two of the Spanish Cobras gang members were dropped in one courtroom, but the conviction of the third Spanish Cobra was upheld in another courtroom—has all the earmarks of the Tribune working media relations on behalf of the defense attorneys making these claims in court. Seasoned, highly respected prosecutors and detectives are now thrown under a media bus driven by the likes of Buckley. The indifference to a murdered police officer pervading Buckley’s manufactured tripe is a compelling example of why the American media is roundly detested by the public.

And it just so happens that one of the defendants in a bizarre civil lawsuit brought against the detectives and prosecutors who worked the investigation and the charging of the Spanish Cobras is none other than Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas.

Last week, Buckley authored another story giving voice to claims that Judge Chiampas’s decision to ban an exonerated man from the Cook County courts building was not justified. According to Buckley’s article, Roberto Almodovar—whose conviction for his alleged role in a shooting of four people, two fatally, was vacated—was “illegally detained” by Chiampas and banned from the courthouse after Almodovar was caught with a cell phone in the courts building by a Cook County sheriff. Cell phones are banned for members of the public, though attorneys and police are allowed to keep theirs.

But in Buckley’s article, one key question goes unaddressed: How did Almodovar get through the security checkpoint at the entrance of the county courts building with his cell phone in the first place? Members of the public are screened as they enter the building. Was there a lapse in security? Did security on the ground floor allow him to keep his phone, but sheriffs on another floor didn’t?

Buckley’s willingness to paint Almodovar as a victim is also dubious journalism. The saga of Almodovar from convicted killer to now hero on behalf of criminal justice victims is a narrative not bought by many familiar with the case, including, it seems, the city attorneys who defended the detectives in a federal lawsuit against them. This is nothing new. The federal courts are a treasure trove of motions, testimony, and evidence that many attorneys, cops, prosecutors, and judges do not buy the exoneration claims of guys like Almodovar, even if they were released from prison and granted a certificate of innocence, a treasure trove the Tribune has systemically ignored in their coverage, one of the greatest media abuses in the history of the city. In fact, in some of the cases, media activism has been cited by defense attorneys in the civil courts as the primary reason for guys getting out of prison, not evidence or testimony. In some of these cases, Buckley’s Tribune has been specifically named.  

Such sentiments casting doubt on the legitimacy of Almodovar’s claims pervade his case. Almodovar was convicted for his role in a 1994 shooting in which four people were struck, two fatally. One of the victims, Jacqueline Grande (“Jackie”), consistently identified Almodovar as one of the offenders. City attorneys had this to say about Jackie in one of their motions in the civil lawsuit brought by Almodovar:

“Jackie was shot and wounded in the early morning hours of September 1, 1994, and two of her friends were shot and killed before her eyes. For the more than 25 ensuing years, and still to this date, Jackie has consistently maintained that Plaintiffs [Almodovar] were the perpetrators.”

And Jackie had this to say about Almodovar being deposed in the case:

“Jackie expressed to defense counsel . . . that she is afraid to appear for her deposition if Almodovar and Negron [co-offender] are present. Specifically, she expressed she is afraid (1) for her own safety and well-being, as the parties would be traveling to Jackie’s location to conduct her deposition in-person after she has moved away from the Midwest, (2) that being physically present with the individuals she has repeatedly identified as having shot her and killed her friends will be very upsetting and fear-inducing, and (3) for the safety and well-being of her family, as they moved with her away from the Midwest to her new state of residence. Notably, during her testimony in Plaintiffs’ 2015 post-conviction proceeding, Jackie . . . testified that individuals purportedly representing Plaintiffs came to her home on numerous occasions uninvited and without notice. She testified that on one instance, a representative of Plaintiffs stuck their foot in her door and wouldn’t leave; and on another occasion, a representative of Plaintiffs first said she was an old friend of Jackie’s in order to get Jackie to come to the door and speak with her.”

Looks like Jackie didn’t get the memo on what a great guy Roberto Almodovar is, even though such descriptions might provide some good context why Judge Chiampas might be concerned about Almodovar walking around the courthouse with a cell phone in violation of the courthouse rules.

In any case, Buckley’s willingness to give full coverage to the claims by Almodovar’s advocates while ignoring the compelling contrary view is a media trope endemic at the Tribune, a bias so egregious it has paved the way for many detectives and their attorneys to plead the Fifth rather than testify in cases, concluding that the media, allied with the defense attorneys, was simply out to get them.

In any case, Buckley could have lent a more legitimate countenance to her otherwise blatant PR article on behalf of Almodovar if she had asked a few more simple questions.

Like how did Almodovar get his cell phone through security at the criminal courts building?