Bobby Cann Updates: Ryne San Hamel Pleads Guilty, Receives 10 Days in Jail

Jason Jenkins at ActiveTrans is helping to coordinate community response.  If there is any chance you can attend proceedings, please reach out to him: 

jason@activetrans.org.

 

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Permalink Reply by ad on December 7, 2016 at 5:38am

Respectfully disagree.  Justice (at least in terms of sentencing after a defendant has been found guilty) is not metered out in a vacuum, and prosecutors and courts have huge amounts of discretion regarding how cases are handled that is often swayed by how they view the community's interests that they're serving.  Victim impact statements, as just one example, are a recognized part of the criminal justice system.  Such statements are then balanced out by mitigating factors presented by the defense. 

Concerns regarding preventing future similar conduct and the impact of the crime on the victim, the victim's family, and the community at large are very much at play in any criminal case.   IMHO the cycling community has every right to be heard on the issue of what "justice" means in this situation. 

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on December 7, 2016 at 9:35am
The frustration in this community comes from the fact that this case is languishing in the court system for whatever reason. Perhaps it's more of that judicial reasoning that we should primarily be forgiving so another life isn't ruined by this.

The Sixth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution ensures the right of a defendant to a speedy and public trial. Who ensures the rights of the victim and their family?
Permalink Reply by ad on December 7, 2016 at 10:29am

Unfortunately, for people who don't deal with it day-to-day, I think it comes as a shock how much our legal system is defined by haves and have nots in terms of a defendant being able to work the system. 

I'm not the prosecutor, nor have I followed every in and out of this case to the degree necessary to know whether extra resources could be applied to make it "go faster" at points (the one you could point to was the appeal, though the state won that issue, and many would say the delay was worth it), but one big reason this case seems to be moving slowly is because we're watching an individual who has the money and resources to afford one of the better criminal attorneys in the City.  The plan is most likely to keep dragging this out for as long as possible in the hopes of the prosecution finally just agree to plea it out.  This type of delay as a strategy wouldn't happen if a public defender was involved or if the defendant couldn't afford to bring multiple motions and incur the type of heavy costs at issue here. 

It sucks, but it's not limited to this case; nor is it necessarily indicative of the prosecution or the court simply not caring.  Probably more importantly, it's also a hard issue to fix without jeopardizing a defendant's due process rights in the first place.  The argument will always be that justice moves slowly so mistakes do not happen.

Speedy trial laws came about because prosecutors would delay cases (sometime for valid reasons) and people would sit in jail who couldn't afford bail for years before getting to court.  To fix that, Illinois has strict timelines by when a defendant has to be tried if he demands trial.  It's hard to place the same type of time limits on a defendant mounting a defense without running afoul of due process concerns.  

     

It sucks for people who care about this case (myself included), but it's a systemic problem that touches every judicial system in the country.   

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on December 7, 2016 at 2:06pm
Thank you for the legal insights. Your logic speaks volumes about what is actually occurring.

Yeah, it does suck.
Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on December 7, 2016 at 3:28pm

ad is right, and we need to be patient. We don't want to speed things up, what we want is the states attorney to stick with this and not give a drunken killer an easy and quick way out.

It may be costing the state (us!) money to keep this going seeking a just verdict, but it's costing SanHamel big money too paying for for that very expensive lawyer. 

He needs to keep resources available to pay for the civil trial that's going to follow this.

Permalink Reply by Bill Nedza on December 8, 2016 at 4:20am

This case needs to be "out there" and as "highly visible" as we can make it, and yes, we need the state's attorney to keep fighting for that just verdict -- which, personally speaking, must include incarceration for San Hamel -- BOBBY CANN WAS KILLED.  THIS is the message that needs to be stated, and it's THE message.  I don't give a damn that San Hamel has to pay for an attorney, I give a damn only that he pays for his choice to do something led to SOMEONE DYING.  And as far as "judicial reasoning that we should primarily be forgiving so another life isn't ruined by this", I can agree with that if it was, perhaps, smoking some pot, but this resulted in a death.  AND, if you think San Hamel is sorry for this, think again -- he could probably have taken a plea deal, been in jail for three years, and back out a free man to live his life.  NO, he's fighting every step of the way, and he'll pay what he needs to to avoid paying the price.    

Permalink Reply by Jack Crowe on December 12, 2016 at 12:20pm

Agreed! I want to thank all of you who have posted over the years - this forum thread is how I've kept up with the case. I continue to read every single post and would like to increase visibility! I also subscribed to the VINE updates, but since I have a 9-5 I haven't made it to the cases yet...every new court date has me tempted to take off work though.

Should I (would you all want me to) create a new thread on The Chainlink summarizing what's gone on, to get it as a featured post, in the weekly email, on the CL Facebook page?

Also, I know Streetsblog continues to keep track of this, I was thinking of reaching out to them to see what else we can do to increase visibility.

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on December 6, 2016 at 2:34pm

Absolutely, a very good way to express concern is to show up at the court hearing, be a court advocate, and make a presence visible to the judge and the prosecuting attorney.

But it's not the only way.

It's difficult for many to show up if they don't have the time available.  It takes time to travel to and fron 26th and California - and wait for an indeterminate amount of time for the case to come up. After some time (3-1/2 years!) is can get tiring and discouraging.

We can add to this by writing letters, signing petitions, starting on-line programs or sending emails.  Maybe a large assembly outside of the States Attorney's office.  Maybe a non-violent demonstration.

It's just as tiring and frustrating to do nothing.

Permalink Reply by Bill Nedza on December 7, 2016 at 2:32am

Received this morning:

12/7/2016

This e-mail is to inform you that there is an upcoming court event involving the defendant Ryne Sanhamel and case number 13CR1355001.

A hearing has been scheduled for 12/12/2016 at 10:00 AM. This will take place in Circuit Court 127, located at the following address: 2600 South California Ave, Chicago, IL . 


Please be aware that there are often multiple cases set on a particular date in this court. The case you are involved in may not be reached on the scheduled day. You may want to check for updates to this information by periodically calling the VINE service or visiting www.vinelink.com.

For more information, contact the county clerk's office.

Thank you,

Cook County Automated Victim Notification System 

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on December 12, 2016 at 3:03pm

12/12/2016

This e-mail is to inform you that there is an upcoming court event involving the defendant Ryne Sanhamel and case number 13CR1355001.

A hearing has been scheduled for 12/15/2016 at 10:00 AM. This will take place in Circuit Court 127, located at the following address: 2600 South California Ave, Chicago, IL .

Please be aware that there are often multiple cases set on a particular date in this court. The case you are involved in may not be reached on the scheduled day. You may want to check for updates to this information by periodically calling the VINE service or visiting www.vinelink.com.

For more information, contact the county clerk's office.

Thank you,

Cook County Automated Victim Notification System

Permalink Reply by Bill Nedza on December 15, 2016 at 9:29am

https://www.facebook.com/RideOnBobby/

12/15/2016

This e-mail is to inform you that there is an upcoming court event involving the defendant Ryne Sanhamel and case number 13CR1355001.

A hearing has been scheduled for 12/20/2016 at 9:30 AM. This will take place in Circuit Court 127, located at the following address: 2600 South California Ave, Chicago, IL .

Please be aware that there are often multiple cases set on a particular date in this court. The case you are involved in may not be reached on the scheduled day. You may want to check for updates to this information by periodically calling the VINE service or visiting www.vinelink.com.

For more information, contact the county clerk's office.

Thank you,

Cook County Automated Victim Notification System 

Permalink Reply by Bill Nedza on December 15, 2016 at 9:32am

There is a pretty important court update on the FB page link below -- 

https://www.facebook.com/RideOnBobby/

Thursday 12/15/16 Court Update:

On her way to the courthouse this morning ASA Jennifer Coleman received a phone call from defense attorney Sam Adam informing her he was going to request a 402 Conference. The name comes from Illinois Supreme Court Rule 402 which provides for a judge to be part of the plea negotiation. At this conference the ASA, the defense attorney, and Judge Hooks meet to review the case and the Judge lets the defense know what the sentence will be if the defendant pleads guilty. The defendant can accept the sentence, which means the case is over; or the defendant can reject it and go to trial. The defense has indicated they will only accept a sentence of probation - otherwise they will go to trial.

No motions were argued in court today. Judges prefer defendants to plead before they have exhausted all 'escape' paths.

The Cook County pre-trial team will put together a report on the defendant’s past, including criminal and non-criminal events that will give a bigger picture of who he is and any mitigating or aggravating factors in his past. The other component of the 402 is the ADES (Alcohol and Drug Evaluation Services) evaluation, which will investigate drug and alcohol histories specifically as well as evaluate the degree of his problem with them. This evaluation will help determine what degree of rehabilitation, if any, is included in the sentence.

The 402 Conference has been scheduled for Thursday, January 26, 2017.

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