The Chainlink

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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I received this from Cherrell at Active Trans:

The following is an update/next court date info for next Bobby Cann hearing:

I wanted to make sure that you knew that a very important hearing is coming up on the 26th of this month (January 2017) and it would be very impactful if you could please attend.

The defense has requested and will be granted on the 26th a "402 Conference" at which the defense will ask the judge what sentence he is likely to impose if the defense were to change its plea to guilty.

The defense has indicated they will only accept a sentence of probation - otherwise they will go to trial.

Bobby's family and close friends will also be submitting Victim's Impact Statements to the judge in advance of this hearing to help inform his decision.

A large turnout would hopefully impress upon the Judge that an unreasonably light sentence would be publicly unacceptable. We hope that you are able to attend.

The hearing is scheduled for

01/26/2017
9:30 am, (please get there early to get a seat)
Leighton Criminal Courts Building
2650 S California Ave, Chicago, IL 60608
Room 301

*Cell phones and other electronic devices as well as helmets are not allowed in the building. Small lockers for phones are available in limited supply at the entrance on a first come first served basis, but it is recommended that you please make arrangements to store these items outside or leave them at home.

As I understand it, a "402 Conference" can be held in open court, in public, or it can be held in private, in the judges chambers.  In either case a court reporter will be present to record the conference.

In either case, I think it's important to have a large turnout.  What can we do or wear to look like a bunch of bicyclists?  No helmets, so should be all wear mirrors and leg clips?

What's an 'unreasonably light sentence?  ANY 'light sentence' is unreasonable to me.

Shirts with bicycles on them? Shirts from bicycle organizations? Maybe bicycle pins on our lapels/shirts/whatever? 

When I've gone to court, Active Trans handed out pins for us to wear while we were there. 

Please note that these are all my personal opinions based on experience, and I hope I'm wrong about everything.  That being said...

It's sad to say, but honestly, it's not going to make any difference who is there on January 26th.  The 402 conference will be held in the judge's chambers.  Not in open court, no way, despite the charming naivete of John Greenfield.  It wouldn't surprise me, if it appeared to the judge that cyclists were present, that the conference was held after the call to see if the cyclists had to leave to do other things.  My thought, and I hope I'm wrong, is that the parties will emerge from the conference with a deal.  The deal will be favorable to the defendant, Ryne San Hamel, who has political connections.  It will involve a plea to a minor offense, reduced from what he's charged with now.  He will serve zero to a minimal time in jail.  Maybe some community service.  The prosecutors, who have shown no enthusiasm for this case, and the judge, who has done nothing to push the case and made an incredibly stupid ruling that was overturned by the appellate court, just want to get this case off the docket.  I'd like to know what forensic analysis the prosecutors did while the evidence was fresh.  I doubt if there was much.  My prediction is, and has been, that the entire court system has been trying to prolong this case so that the furor would die down and the court could give the defendant a minor slap, or tap, on the wrist.  I hope I'm wrong.  I hope they emerge from that conference and the prosecution says they're taking the case to trial.  But I doubt that will happen.  Some kind of minor plea deal will be slipped by suddenly.  Just my thoughts based on what I know of the criminal court system and political connections in Chicago. 

Jim, you may be correct that a light sentence will be handed down and that some people wanted the furor to die down.  But I am in total disagreement with your comment that "it's not going to make any difference who is there on January 26th".  Perhaps it won't make a difference in any agreement made, but it will absolutely make a difference to his family, friends, fellow cyclists, etc.  And may, just maybe, the judge will do what's right.  Support is never, ever, a bad thing to show.  And more support is better than less.  I hope you're wrong, but I do respect your insight -- let's hope!!

Bill, you are correct.  There's no way to measure if the showup makes a difference, but it cannot do any harm.  The only difference that will affect the outcome if the influence on the judge, but it will make a difference to the friends and family of Bobby Cann.

1/21/2017

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 1/26/2017 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

COOK COUNTY CRIMINAL COURTHOUSE — The suburban driver accused of hitting and killing bicyclist Bobby Cann while driving drunk in Lincoln Park in 2013 pleaded guilty Thursday.

Ryne San Hamel had faced years in prison if convicted at trial, but instead took a deal hammered out between his prominent defense attorney Sam Adam Jr., prosecutors and Judge William J. Hooks.

He pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI causing death and reckless homicide. Terms of his sentence were expected to be announced Thursday. His guilty plea came shortly after 3 p.m. The court hearing was still continuing as of 3:25 p.m.

Ryne San Hamel, 32, of Park Ridge, was out celebrating a Cubs win May 29, 2013, when he fatally struck cyclist Cann with his Mercedes Benz about 6:35 p.m. near the intersection of Clybourn Avenue and Larrabee Street.

No details yet on the plea deal. For the full article: 

https://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20170126/old-town/ryne-san-hamel-bo...

"10 Days In Jail For Drunken Driver Who Killed Cyclist Bobby Cann"

Ryne San Hamel had faced years in prison if convicted at trial, but instead took a deal hammered out between his prominent defense attorney Sam Adam Jr., prosecutors and Judge William J. Hooks.

Prosecutors had sought between three and 14 years in prison. The judge said Cann's death was a great loss, but he believes San Hamel feels genuine remorse. 

"I wish I could change everything that happened, but I can't," a weeping San Hamel said before being sentenced. "I just hope that you can feel some kind of remorse for me or forgiveness in your heart. ... I live with that moment every day, every minute, every time I lay down and try to sleep."

He pleaded guilty to aggravated DUI causing death and reckless homicide. In addition to probation, San Hamel must pay cover Cann's funeral expenses, pegged at $25,000.

Before announcing the sentence, Judge Hooks said he took San Hamel's remorse into account.

"If I have somebody that gets it and is remorseful -- and even though there's a cry for retribution -- I have to weigh what Ryne San Hamel needs," the judge said, adding some people call out for lengthy prision sentences because they are  a danger to society.

"This is not one of those cases."

Un-fucking-believable.

Bobby's mom and/or aunt had to come out regularly to attend every court date. Ryne killed Bobby on May 29, 2013 and Ryne saw Bobby's family come to court every time. And yet, in none of that time, being as "remorseful" as he supposedly is, did it ever strike him to take a plea earlier. Instead, his attorney fought to get Ryne off as "not guilty". I don't accept the judge's notion Ryne is a remorseful person that should be allowed to get behind the wheel because he has seemed far more concerned with minimizing the impact on his life and not concerned with how this has forever altered Bobby's family. They lost their loved one. This is a man that should have served time in jail. Real time. And lose his license for the rest of his life.

Best justice money can buy.

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