Jeffrey Martin, 56, was charged in January 2016 with sexually assaulting an elderly woman with whom he had been staying in Normal.
The rape and child pornography cases against Jeffrey Martin took a baby step forward on Tuesday after a judge gave Martin 45 days to continue his search for a new lawyer in McLean County’s longest pending criminal case.
Martin, 56, was charged in January 2016 with sexually assaulting an elderly woman with whom he had been staying in Normal. A search of his computer by police during the investigation turned up illegal images of children, according to child pornography charges.
In April, Bloomington attorney Steve Skelton withdrew as Martin’s most recent lawyer, telling the judge his relationship with his client was “beyond unfruitful.” Six private lawyers and several public defenders have worked on the cases, but were allowed by a judge to walk away after disputes with Martin.
Two people cross the street in downtown Bloomington.
Bloomington will not further challenge an Illinois appeals court ruling that the city violated the state s Open Meetings Act in a closed-door meeting in 2017, City Manager Tim Gleason said Tuesday.
The Fourth District Appellate Court in Springfield determined in April the city council went into closed session to discuss the political rather than legal consequences of the city s plan to pull out of a tax-sharing agreement with the Town of Normal.
The council stated it went into closed session in February 2017 to discuss pending or probable litigation.
According to the appeals court, there was little discussion of a lawsuit. Then-Mayor Tari Renner said after the meeting he didn’t anticipate a lawsuit over the city’s intentions to dissolve the Metro Zone agreement, a west-side tax-sharing deal the Twin Cities had for decades.
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Eric Stock / WGLT
Originally published on April 29, 2021 6:06 pm
An Illinois appellate court has ruled the City of Bloomington violated the Open Meetings Act in 2017 when the city council convened behind closed doors to discuss terminating a tax-sharing agreement with Normal.
The appellate court ruled the city council did not follow the rules for a closed session because it did not discuss “probable or imminent litigation,” which was the stated reason for convening the meeting. Bloomington was exploring whether to end the Metro Zone agreement, a west-side tax-sharing pact the city ultimately terminated.
According to the court, there was no pending litigation for the city to discuss. Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner told reporters after the closed session the city didn’t anticipate a lawsuit. That prompted then-McLean County State’s Attorney Jason Chambers to ask the AG’s office for a ruling on the legality of the meeting.
SPRINGFIELD â An Illinois Supreme Court decision Wednesday clarified that the state election code prohibits a person from collecting signatures for both a party candidate in a consolidated primary and an independent candidate in the consolidated general election that follows.
The court interpreted the section of the election code that is referred to as the prohibition on âdual circulators.â
This section states that âno person shall circulate or certify petitions for candidates of more than one political party, or for an independent candidate or candidates in addition to one political party, to be voted upon at the next primary or general election, or for such candidates and parties with respect to the same political subdivision at the next consolidated election.â