Charge against Burke son dropped after days MORE FOR NEWSPAPER SUBSCRIBERS
Domestic battery alleged soon after he left county job
Before dawn on a Friday last June, Edward Burke Jr. was arrested at his home in Winnetka after a family member told police he pushed her and authorities reported finding him “highly intoxicated” and “belligerent.”
But by the end of the next business day, the domestic battery charge had been dropped.
The swift reversal occurred after the accused man — the son of Edward Burke, Chicago’s longestserving alderman who is now charged with attempted extortion — managed to get his case before a Cook County judge, apparently without the assistance of an attorney and despite the fact he wasn’t due in court for another week.
The arrest occurred two months after Edward Burke Jr. resigned from a job his father helped him get in Cook County’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management Department.
The junior Burke landed the position after his father spoke to County Board President Toni Preckwinkle, and despite the fact that Burke Jr. was under investigation on allegations he made inappropriate sexual comments to co-workers at his prior job in the Cook County sheriff’s office, the Tribune has revealed.
A Preckwinkle official said her office was not aware of the investigation when Burke was hired for the homeland security job.
It’s not unusual for domestic battery prosecutions to fall apart if the alleged victim refuses to testify, as was the case here, according to court documents.
But victims’ advocates said what was unusual in Burke’s case is the speed at which the misdemeanor charge was undone.
“I don’t know that I can say there’s a normal or average time in which a case is dismissed, but that’s surprisingly quick,” Vickie Smith, executive director of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, told the Tribune in July.
“I think if you were to look at 10 other domestic violence cases that happened over a weekend and see how many were able to get back to court on Monday morning, I think you would find that this is not the normal way that things are done.”
Edward Burke Jr. was arrested June 29 after another person at his residence called 911 around 4:30 a.m., according to a Winnetka police report.
In a statement he released to the Tribune in July, Burke, who is also the son of Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne Burke, apologized and cited “a private battle I have been fighting with post-traumatic stress injury,” though he said “events of that evening have been distorted.”
The night of his arrest, someone at his home told police that Burke was “extremely intoxicated, naked, acting violently, and destroying furniture inside the residence,” according to police records obtained by the Tribune. Photographs included in the police report show overturned chairs and broken furniture, as well as clothing and other items scattered on the floor.
One responding officer wrote in a department report that he heard Burke “yelling obscenities and breaking items” in the home and that after entering, officers found him in the kitchen, appearing “extremely intoxicated,” according to the records.
According to police and what a witness at the residence told authorities, Burke had been escorted home by a Kenilworth police officer and another person just before 2 a.m. the same night. He was put to bed by someone in the home but woke up around 4:30 a.m. and “became very aggressive,” the police report stated.
When one or more people in the home attempted to calm Burke and “prevent (him) from damaging the dining room door,” he “became verbally aggressive,” according to the police report. He “used one arm to shove” someone backward and also “pushed” someone, causing the person to fall onto a couch, the report states.
It is unclear from the police records, which are redacted to protect the identities of the victim and witnesses, whether he was accused of shoving one or more people. According to the complaint filed in court by police, Burke shoved a female relative who suffered a “visible injury to her right arm.”
The relative also told police she was afraid for her safety, the records show. Burke was taken into custody for alleged misdemeanor domestic battery, and two Glock 9 mm pistols that were in the home were turned over to police “for safekeeping at the Winnetka Police Department pending the case disposition,” according to the police reports.
During the ride to the police station and until he was taken to bond court in Skokie a few hours later, Burke continued “exhibiting belligerent behavior and yelling obscenities at officers,” according to the records.
After the bond court hearing, Burke was released on his own recognizance and was ordered not to have contact with the alleged victim and to stay away from his residence for 72 hours. He also was ordered to turn over his firearm owner’s identification card, and a July 9 court hearing was scheduled in the case.
But instead of waiting for his next court date, scheduled for a week later, Burke went to the courthouse the following Monday, July 2. Just after the 72 hours had elapsed, a handwritten form was submitted on his behalf, requesting to go before a judge to amend the condition of his bond to allow him to return to his residence. No lawyer is listed on the form.
That same day, the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dropped the case against Burke, writing in a court document the abbreviation “CWRTT,” which officials confirmed stands for “complaining witness refused to testify.”
Smith, of the Illinois Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said that while she was not aware of the specifics in Burke’s case, it is not uncommon for prosecutors to drop these types of cases when victims refuse to cooperate.
But she and other advocates for victims of domestic violence have been trying to persuade state’s attorneys’ offices not to simply drop a case because the victim no longer wishes to Already getting the Tribune in print? Your subscription comes with Unlimited Digital Access to chicagotribune.com and the eNewspaper. Activate your account: proceed.
“Prosecutors are the ones that decide whether to go forward, regardless of whether a victim wants to testify,” Smith said. “Those criminal charges should be based on the totality of the evidence. If furniture was broken, and there is other evidence, and other witnesses, they can choose to continue to pursue the case. What prosecutors should understand is this is their chance to intervene. If you can step in and take care of it earlier, you’re less likely to see them again down the line.”
Because of the concern that victims of domestic violence, often spouses, will be pressured by their abusers not to testify against them, some states have mandatory “no-drop” policies under which prosecutors are required to move forward with cases even without the victim’s cooperation. The effectiveness of such policies has been widely debated for years.
After Burke’s arrest, Winnetka police officials also filed a request with the Illinois State Police, outlining the allegations against Burke and asking that the agency revoke his FOID card on the basis that he posed a “clear and present danger.”
But state police denied the request, saying it did not meet the threshold for revocation, according to records obtained through Winnetka police. A state police official said the agency is prohibited by law “from releasing information regarding an individual’s FOID or CCL (concealed carry license) status.”
The female relative identified by police as the victim of the domestic battery did not respond to requests for comment.
Burke, after being contacted by the Tribune in July, released the following statement:
“An incident at my residence on June 29th, 2018, has brought a very private battle I have been fighting with post-traumatic stress injury into the public eye. While the events of that evening have been distorted, I am nonetheless deeply sorry that my family has had to endure the effects of my struggles with PTSI.
“As someone who has dedicated his professional life in the service of my community,” the statement went on, “I hope that while I continue to seek help for myself, I can also help others by bringing awareness of the long-lasting effects traumatic events can have on the people that experience them as well as their loved ones. My hope is that those afflicted with PTSI see that they are not alone in their struggle with this illness and that they seek out support.”
Burke’s arrest report lists him as retired, and records show he left his county job with a $110,000 salary on May 1.
County records show that Burke, now 47, came under scrutiny during his tenure with the homeland security department for hours he claimed to have worked.
At the time he was hired in late 2014, he was under investigation in the sheriff ’s department after a female co-worker complained that he was “consistently disrespectful of women,” talked about sex acts and would leave the office by saying, “I’m leaving, going to watch the girls on Rush Street,” according to records obtained by the Tribune.
She also said Burke called himself “the law,” claimed to have “tapes” that would “humiliate” Sheriff Tom Dart, vowed to run for sheriff and said he would fire a bunch of employees when he won, records show.
A male lieutenant filed a separate complaint from a female employee against Burke, claiming he made false allegations against the supervisor and had said publicly he had $11 million for a sheriff’s run, the records show.
The lieutenant quoted Burke saying that if anything happened to him as a result of his own complaint against the supervisor, “his father (Ald. Burke) would take care of it,” according to the records.
Preckwinkle has acknowledged that she talked to Ald. Burke about hiring his son and gave his resume to the homeland security department, but she said she was unaware at the time of the complaints against him made when he worked for the sheriff ’s office.
“I am ... deeply sorry that my family has had to endure the effects of my struggles with (post-traumatic stress injury).” — From Edward Burke Jr. statement in July