The next 23rd District Court Advocates monthly meeting is Tuesday, January 27 (fourth Tuesday of every month) from 6-6:30 pm. If you're interested in becoming, or learning more about being, a court advocate, please plan to attend. It's in the James O'Connor Community Room, 3608 Halsted (just north of Addison).Court advocates attend a variety of cases, sometimes at the request of individual police commanders. Your silent presence is there to represent community interest in the case. The judge is aware when court advocates are present. Cases the court advocates are currently following include the murder trial of victim Du Doan, the Vietnamese fisherman who was killed when he was allegedly pushed into the water at Montrose Harbor in September 2007, and a murder trial in which the victim was the daughter of a long-time crossing guard in the 23rd District.
Court is during the day: morning and afternoon cases. If you have a non-traditional work schedule or can spare a day or two a month, you might want to look into becoming a court advocate. For more information, call 312-744-0064 (23rd District Community Policing).
September 08 or 07?
ReplyDelete'07. Google "John Haley" and "Montrose Harbor" - it was quite the story of the day.
ReplyDeleteI occasionally do court advocacy, and it can be pretty cool. A few months ago, we went to the sentencing of a guy who shot another guy at the BP at Marine and Lawrence. He was up for attempted murder, and got 24 or 28 years, of which he must serve 85% minimum.
Court advocates were there from the 20th District (because the shooting was so close to them), and from districts all over the city (because this guy had had a crime spree all over the place). Afterwards, the lawyer spent a half hour speaking to the court advocates in the hallway, telling us about the trial. He said he appreciated their presence over the course of the trial, because sometimes the courtroom can be a lonely place for the prosecutor.
One less bad guy on the streets, at least for 20 years.