The Arnold Mireles homicide case, already highly visible because of the victim, his community advocacy and a motive of murder-for-hire, took a new and politically sensitive direction Tuesday with the decision by State’s Atty. Richard Devine to personally prosecute the three suspects.
Casting tradition to the wind for what some think is apparent political gain, Devine, Cook County’s chief lawyer and close ally of Mayor Richard Daley, confirmed his intention to head the team of prosecutors who will eventually try murder suspects Roel Salinas, 62; Miguel Martinez, 19; and Ruben Alvarez, 17.
“This is an important case,” said Devine, who hasn’t prosecuted a criminal case since 1984. “Mr. Mireles paid a price for his community involvement, and it is incumbent upon us to stand up for people like him. We will not stand for criminals to knock out those who are making a better neighborhood.”
Devine will try the case with Assistant State’s Atty. Kevin Sheehan.
No Cook County state’s attorney in recent memory–going back at least nearly 40 years, anyway–has opted to put his lawyer skills on the line in so public an arena, hoping to win a “heater case” conviction from a jury of 12 citizens.
In doing so Devine breaks new ground, going one better to a long line of former chief prosecutors, including (from the late 1950s onward) Benjamin Adamowski, Dan Ward, John Stamos, Edward Hanrahan, Bernard Carey, Richard M. Daley, Cecil Partee, Jack O’Malley and, now, Devine. None personally argued a case.
While state’s attorneys in Downstate counties with much smaller populations routinely represent The People in court because of thin resources, rarely do chief prosecutors in big cities with large staffs forgo their desks and administrative duties for courtroom combat.
Why should they?
The Cook County state’s attorney’s office employs hundreds of lawyers.
Many of the assistant state’s attorneys already have extensive experience handling major criminal matters.
They practice their profession on a daily basis, interviewing witnesses, examining physical evidence, strategizing and selecting jurors they hope will accept their arguments.
The implications of Devine’s decision was not lost on John DeLeon, the attorney who is representing Salinas, the slumlord charged with paying two men to kill Mireles.
“I hope Mr. Devine is motivated by his duty to the people of Cook County and not by his political aspirations to run for mayor or governor,” DeLeon said Tuesday outside a courtroom where his client had just been denied bond.
When asked why he thought Devine chose to try the case himself, DeLeon said: “I don’t know, you tell me. But this is the first time the state’s attorney has even indicated he would prosecute a case.”
Devine–a former assistant state’s attorney–shrugged off DeLeon’s insinuation.
“If I was trying to be politically safe, I’d stay out of a courtroom,” he said. “I said during the campaign that I would try cases and now I’m going to try a case. The reality is, I’ve been a trial lawyer my whole career.”
Some lawyers who specialize in courtroom trial litigation said Devine’s decision borders on reckless showboating.
“He is crazy,” one trial specialist and a fellow Democrat said bluntly. “He seems to be saying he doesn’t trust his regular trial lawyers. It’s purely a political thing and a dangerous one at that. What if you blow it?”
Devine is no stranger to the courtroom, although his criminal case experience is marginal.
For nearly 10 years before he joined the staff of then State’s Atty. Daley in 1980, Devine was a law partner of Thomas A. Foran, himself the first U.S. attorney in Chicago in modern history to personally prosecute a case before a jury–the “Chicago 7” trial arising from the 1968 Democratic National Convention disorders in the city.
The Mireles case may not be as high profile as the “Chicago 7” trial, but it has garnered much media and community attention.
Mireles, 35, was a beloved community activist who facilitated community policing meetings, tutored and mentored neighborhood children and led the fight against slum housing. He was gunned down Dec. 29 when he walked the short block from a community center to his apartment.
Prosecutors contend Salinas paid Alvarez and Martinez $10,000 to kill Mireles after the two had clashed about the condition of Salinas’ rundown properties. They say Alvarez and Martinez ambushed Mireles and shot him in the back of the head.
