The petite woman seemed to become still smaller as she sat, nearly huddled, against an older, dignified man in the waiting area of the Cook County state’s attorney’s office in Rolling Meadows.
Carol Merkel, a victim-witness advocate who serves the Cook County 3rd Judicial District court in Rolling Meadows, knew the pair were waiting for her. Her manner calm and reassuring, Merkel asked the young woman what she needed.
Glancing for reassurance at the older man, whom she identified as her father, the woman explained that she had been told she needed an order of protection because of an incident the night before with her estranged husband.
“What I need to do,” Merkel explained, “is ask you to wait for about 20 minutes while I take care of something else. When I come back, we need to fill out some paperwork–there’s an eight-page report we need to do–and then we’ll go before a judge.”
The young woman seemed, briefly, to weaken. “Oh, that’s too much trouble for you,” she said. “We will just go and come back later.”
Merkel was quick to reassure her. “It’s not too much trouble at all if it helps you to feel safe,” she said. “As soon as I get back, we will take care of it.”
The young woman settled back next to her father. Merkel, assured that she would wait, headed downstairs to a courtroom to check on another case, farther along in the process, where the victim of violence was counting on her comforting presence.
“The domestic violence cases are always hard,” Merkel said. “We often find ourselves dead center in what is normally a very private issue.”
As one of two victim-witness advocates in the 3rd Judicial District, Merkel is usually knee deep in hundreds of domestic violence cases each year. In addition, she works with families of homicide victims and the witnesses and victims in the less dramatic crimes that fill the courtrooms on a daily basis.
The northwest suburban woman who cheerfully admits only to being “over 50” has been working with victims and witnesses in suburban Cook County since January 1987, when the former nurse re-entered the work force. She was hired when Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley was the Cook County state’s attorney (Democratic, of course). This spring, she was honored by the present (and Republican) state’s attorney, Jack O’Malley, with one of his office’s six Outstanding Public Service Awards.
“Sometimes I don’t feel like I do very much,” Merkel said. “But I’ve realized that just being present and listening to what is frightening or troubling can be very helpful and very meaningful.”
O’Malley said the award is given to staff members who are particularly dedicated to their work. “Carol doesn’t think she has a 9-to-5 job,” O’Malley said. “Wherever she is needed, she is there, whether it’s organizing a weekend victim support group or staying late to comfort a troubled child.”
One person who can attest to the value of Merkel’s work is Mary Kay Fawcett of LaGrange Park, whose son Dean was found brutally murdered in Barrington in December 1992, just days after the Brown’s Chicken murders in Palatine. The suspects in Fawcett’s case were briefly considered suspects in the Palatine case. Eventually, one man was convicted and another acquitted in Dean’s murder.
“I met Carol through the Barrington police,” Fawcett said. “She was definitely a big help. The trial went on for five weeks, and she was there every day. It was amazing the time and effort she was willing to go to.”
In addition to explaining the legal process, answering questions and assisting victims in getting orders of protection, Merkel provides referrals to support groups, some of which she leads herself.
Fawcett continues to attend a group for families of homicide victims. “I’m still going through recovery, but it’s not something I will ever get over,” she said. “Even with the tragedy, I’m glad I met wonderful people like Carol.”
Merkel’s goal, whether helping a domestic violence victim get an order of protection or explaining the legal process to a witness in a felony case, is to make sure people do not feel lost in an overwhelming system. “We can offer some relief, some peace of mind, along with important information, to people who are in very difficult circumstances through no fault of their own,” she said. “There are people who are more easily distressed by some events than others, so you have to slow down and explain things three or four times instead of just once or twice, but that’s OK because that’s what they need.”
For the first five years in her job as victim-witness advocate, Merkel worked alone. The courts had not yet been consolidated into the Rolling Meadows courthouse, and she often traveled from village hall to village hall where cases were heard. The district includes most of the northwest suburbs from Barrington to Des Plaines and extends south to Elmwood Park and west to Elgin.
“It’s a hard job to do all by yourself,” she said. “The first three years I didn’t take any time off, and that was very hard. I’ve learned when to take a day off and when to take some vacation time.”
Merkel’s partner for the last year has been Jennifer Golemo, 25, of Chicago. “Jennifer and I have an interesting balance,” Merkel said. “She’s young enough to be my daughter, but we can support each other very well.”
Golemo said she has appreciated working with Merkel because “when I started I really didn’t know what to expect. Carol . . . can see when maybe I need to take a break from an emotional case.”
Kevin Moore, supervising assistant state’s attorney for the 3rd District, said the victim-witness advocates’ contributions are important to the prosecutors. “Carol is an integral part of our prosecutorial team,” Moore said. “She’s a very approachable person, and some of our victims and witnesses are intimidated talking to lawyers.”
Merkel’s duties also include handling nitty-gritty details for the state’s attorney’s office. Recently, she has been making travel and housing arrangements for out-of-town witnesses needed for testimony.
In addition, she can make special arrangements for disabled witnesses or victims, including having access to a specially equipped van for transportation. “When we have trials going,” she said, “we do whatever the job requires.”
The work has given her a close look at the overburdened and much-maligned legal system. “Here we are in a brand-new courthouse, and on many days the courtrooms are so crowded that people do feel like they get lost in the shuffle,” she said.
In the years she has been working in the suburban courts, Merkel said the cases have gotten worse. “The intensity of the crime has gotten higher,” she said.
Despite all of the challenges her job presents, Merkel’s own spirits and motivation remain strong. “What keeps me going,” she said, “is that I have a really strong faith, and I really believe this is where God wants me to be.”
