Illinois Department of Corrections Earnest Bell refused to attend his September 2015 bench trial on drug charges, opting instead to stay in a holding cell, where he wrapped a shirt around his neck in an apparent suicide attempt. On Monday, Judge Casey Costigan heard arguments about whether Bell’s former lawyer, Brian McEldowney, provided adequate legal assistance five years ago when he told a judge he believed Bell was fit to stand trial. Bell is serving a 22-year sentence for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a church, a sentence imposed after Judge Robert Freitag conducted a trial in Bell’s absence.