BY DAVE PARRO
After reading Matt Hanley's story Sunday about the challenges prosecutors will face in convicting the 31 men arrested last month as part of Aurora's investigation into cold-case gang murders, it's pretty clear that it will be difficult to get guilty verdicts in all of them.
The cases will not be built on physical evidence or eyewitness confessions, but rather the corroborated testimony of convicted gang members who have something to gain. Many of the suspects' family members have already commented on this blog that they think jailhouse snitches are working overtime to earn leniency from the courts and ratting out innocent men.
As Sunday's story points out, one of the 22 murders police say they have solved has been to trial once before and resulted in a verdict of not guilty. Angel and Michael Luciano are now charged in the case 16 years after that acquittal. Jurors in 1991 apparently couldn't sort out conflicting testimony from witnesses with questionable character.
Kane County State's Attorney John Barsanti thinks jurors are more knowledgeable now about how gangs work and therefore better able to sort through testimony. Still, holding together 31 murder cases that date back almost two decades won't be easy for Barsanti's staff.
Barsanti also said he was "shocked" by the number of charges Aurora police and the FBI still plan on bringing in unsolved murders. Police Chief Bill Powell has promised more arrests by the end of the year, but Barsanti's tone suggests we could be looking at another huge sweep coming soon.
That just means more tough tasks for Kane County prosecutors. It also raises an interesting question: Are police and prosecutors overextending themselves at the expense of building strong cases, or is the burden worth bearing if it means taking potentially dangerous criminals off the streets en masse?
Yes, more more tough tasks and eventually higher taxes to pay for the extra effort these prosecutor's will be expected to work overtime for. Barsanti may tell the media, no overtime, no hiring extra prosecutor's but then again he seems to say alot to the media that's aimed at "stroking" the minds of citizens. We know better, this is his ploy and Chief Powell's to save their jobs and poor reps. They seem to think they are judge, jury and executioneer's for their peers, now they're diverting the attention to 31 SUSPECTS in cold cases. Nobody seemed to care back then that these "gang bangers" were shooting and killing each other, why now??
As if the public have lived with blinders on all this time.
Excellent point made by the above!
all i remmber in my child hood that angel luciano was very nice young man i saw him grow up his mother was the kindest person ever but him a killer never he would would cry easily about people dying or if a pet die he was very nice person God bless this him I hope he comes i if really have been praying for i was at hid funeral and was very sad GOD bless him i really like him as a person sincerely lupie