FOUR KEY MAURA SLATTERY BOYLE CASES

In each of these cases, Cook County Circuit Judge Maura Slattery Boyle’s rulings were found to have been in error.

People v. Kimbler, 2015

The issue: Tracy Kimbler was arrested in 2012 after police found him at a bus stop with a purse that had, minutes earlier, been taken from the woman’s apartment. He was tried before Cook County Circuit Judge Maura Slattery Boyle in a nonjury trial. After his conviction, he appealed.

The judge’s decision: The judge convicted Kimbler of burglary and theft and sentenced him to two concurrent 10-year prison terms, followed by three years of supervision. The judge also ordered Kimbler to pay $500 for the costs of court-appointed representation.

The appellate court: A panel of the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the burglary conviction, finding there was no evidence Kimbler had been inside the victim’s apartment and was the person who took the purse. The court ordered resentencing, saying the sentence was unduly harsh. And the panel said that Slattery Boyle had wrongly assessed attorney fees without establishing Kimbler’s ability to pay.

People v. Harbin, 2018

The issue: Patrick Harbin was on trial for armed robbery, aggravated vehicular hijacking and possession of a stolen motor vehicle. He chose not to testify. Despite being about a foot shorter and 40 pounds lighter than the original description given by the victim, Harbin was found guilty by a jury based largely on one eyewitness’s testimony.

The judge’s decision: During jury instructions, Slattery Boyle did not inform jurors that Harbin’s decision not to testify could not be held against him — a violation of a Supreme Court rule.

The appellate court: An appeals court panel found Slattery Boyle’s error “had especially prejudicial effect” because the evidence against Harbin was questionable. “Where jurors may well have thought that Harbin’s failure to testify meant he committed the crime, we cannot ignore the trial court’s violation,” Justice P. Scott Neville Jr. wrote.

The fallout: The appellate court ordered a new trial, which is pending.

People v. Rosado, 2017

The issue: Joe Rosado was on trial for selling drugs to an undercover Chicago police officer. He recently had been acquitted of an almost identical crime. The prosecution wanted to present testimony about his other charge. The judge’s decision: Slattery Boyle, who was also Rosado’s judge in the other case, allowed the prosecution to present testimony about the other charge — but did not allow Rosado to say he had been acquitted. She said, regarding the former case, that the prosecution “did not handle that case correctly, because the evidence…was quite clear.”

The appellate court: In the opinion, Justice Michael Hyman wrote, “Outward appearances would suggest that the trial court changed its evidentiary rulings in the second case to ensure that Rosado was not acquitted again.” He also wrote, “Both in terms of logic and fairness, the trial court’s decision was ‘unreasonable’ and an abuse of discretion.”

The fallout: The appeals court reversed the decision and sent the case to a different judge.

People v. Serrano, 2016

The issue: Armando Serrano contended in a post-conviction petition that he had been wrongly convicted of murder based on false evidence developed by the now-disgraced Chicago police detective Reynaldo Guevara. The judge’s decision: Slattery Boyle limited the evidence Serrano could present and then cut short a hearing on his petition, ruling that the evidence “entirely fails to support” Serrano’s claim.

The appellate court: A panel of the appellate court called that decision “truly puzzling,” saying the judge had “turned a blind eye to much of the evidence and also refused to admit probative, admissible evidence that, when evaluated under the proper standard, is damning. Even where the court gave lip service to the standard it was supposed to apply, the court clearly did not adhere to that standard.”

The fallout: The Cook County state’s attorney’s office chose not to contest overturning the conviction, and charges were dropped on July 20, 2016.