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 Bob Kastigar on October 18, 2016 at 2:40pm

Thanks for posting this; I didn't get a notification from the Cook County Automated Victim Notification System.

Permalink Reply by Bill Nedza on November 13, 2016 at 5:49am

PLEASE BE AWARE, CHECK THE TIME ON THIS COURT DATE IF YOU PLAN ON ATTENDING -- KEEP THIS IN THE NEWS!!!!!!

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 11/17/2016 at 10:00 AM. This will take place in Circuit Court 127, located at the following address: 2600 South California Ave, Chicago, IL . 

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on December 1, 2016 at 4:06pm

November 13th?  Did anything happen?  Were any court advocates present?  Any new information?  Any date for the next hearing?  Has a trial date been set?

Is Jason's replacement posting news and updates?

Permalink Reply by Bill Nedza on December 2, 2016 at 8:03am

Cherrell Jackson <Cherrell@activetrans.org> sent this update, via email, not sure who all receives her emails:

The following update was provided by Jesse Sherwood after attending the hearing yesterday:

 

As expected, there was not much action today.  A date was set for the defense to give their response to the State's Attorney's response to the motion to exclude the blood alcohol test results as evidence from the DUI charges. As I understand it, the defense is challenging the protocol followed when the blood samples were taken and stored at Northwestern. 

 

A date set for the next hearing was Monday December 12th 10am in room 301. 

 

Cherrell ~

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on December 4, 2016 at 3:27am

It's been about 3-1/2 years since this killing occurred.

Anita Alverez was the States Attorney to begin prosecution. We've had an election and Kim Foxx is the recently elected and installed States Attorney.

I'm concerned that maybe someone taking over a job might tend to look at ongoing past proceedings and be concerned about writing them off, get them out of the way, clear them off the books, and be able to start anew with new crimes and misdemeanors that come up. I don't think anyone who rides a bike wants to see SanHamel get off with a slight sentence, a small fine, a short time in jail and eventually a new drivers license.

For anyone new to this and unfamiliar with the events and SanHamel's notorious past, read the article "Death of a Cyclist" in the Chicago Reader:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/cyclist-bobby-cann-bike-safety...

On May 7th of that year we sent a printed petition to Ms. Alverez showing support for a strong prosecution, and encouraging avoidance of an easy plea bargain. In a few weeks over 5200 people signed the petition which was mailed to Ms. Alverez.

Was this petition brought to the attention of States Attorney Kim Foxx?

http://petitions.moveon.org/sign/no-plea-bargain-for-ryne?source=c....

Is there anything we should be doing to keep this issue alive in the public? I'm sure we won't forget, but will the press, the media, and public lose interest? There's been a lot of silence on this trial. I haven't been getting notices from the Victims Notification System as I had been in the past. A search for the Case No. 13CR1355001produce no results. I haven't heard anything from the Active Transportation Alliance.

After this 3-1/2 years, SanHamel is still walking round free. Does anyone have any ideas of what we should do or be doing?

Permalink Reply by Mike Schwab on December 4, 2016 at 1:00pm

He isn't driving.  License revoked, Secretary of State overrode the reinstatement, car in impound until after the trail, perhaps after appeals.

Permalink Reply by Yasmeen on December 5, 2016 at 9:58am

Thanks for the recap. I'm concerned as well. In the last year, it feels like it's lost momentum all though, that may be a perception rather than reality but still, we do need to keep this present and a topic that stays visible. 

With 2016 being as tough of a year as it has been for cyclists, the general bike safety issues have come up but not specifically this case.

Permalink Reply by djm on December 4, 2016 at 6:38pm

An article in today's New York Times Magazine ("Sea of Money", 12/4/2016) reminded me of this case.  It discusses the techniques a very wealthy individual used to attempt to conceal assets from his wife in a pending divorce.

[The wife's attorney]...believed that [the husband's] trusts were filing motions or objections it seemed certain to lose, just to exhaust and bankrupt [the wife].  In one lawsuit, the trusts fought against releasing a single piece of paper.  The goal wasn't merely to win...but to prevent the case from progressing far enough for its actual merits to be heard.  "This isn't some weird aspect of the process," [the attorney] says. "This is the game itself."

Permalink Reply by Bob Kastigar on December 5, 2016 at 11:50am

This was very much my concern.

The defense files a motion - and the states attorney needs to study it, and reply.  The reply is scheduled after a couple of weeks.  The prosecution replies, the defense needs to study the reply and several weeks go by so then can reply.  The reply needs a reply, so more time passes waiting for a reply to the reply. Finally the judge may make a ruling, and this is appealed which freezes things for a couple of weeks until the appeal comes back and further objections come from whoever the ruling was against.

Most of the past "hearings" only lasted a few minutes and not a lot of new information came out of it.

Yes, his license was revoked, not merely suspended.  Nobody drives if they don't have a drivers license.  Do they?

I can see the concern of the prosecution: "This case is going nowhere; let's settle this so we can work on something else."  A fine, some time in jail.  Next case!

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on December 5, 2016 at 12:19pm
Is there any legally appropriate way that we can express our concerns to Kim Foxx, the new States Attorney?
Permalink Reply by ad on December 6, 2016 at 8:44am

Anyone is free to write her a letter to express their position on how the community feels about the prosecution. 

But, as people involved in the court advocate program have noted in the past, one of the best ways to communicate interest and express concerns is to get people to show up at the court hearings.  It causes both the Judge and the prosecution to remember people care about the case. 

Permalink Reply by Tom A.K. on December 6, 2016 at 12:17pm
That is understandable, but justice should not be contingent or skewed by the concerns of the survivors supporters or those of the accused. Justice should be meted out in reasonably timely fashion and in a fair and even-handed manner.

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