Former U.S. Attorney Dan Webb, considered one of the best lawyers in the country, has been appointed a special prosecutor to look into the 2004 death of David Koschman in a drunken confrontation with a nephew of then-Mayor Richard Daley -- and the follow-up investigation by Chicago police and Cook County prosecutors.
Judge Michael Toomin, who ordered the appointment of a special prosecutor, named Webb to the post this morning.
After questions were raised about the police investigation, Koschman’s mother, Nanci, asked that a special prosecutor look into the case.
No charges were ever filed against Richard “R.J.” Vanecko, a member of the powerful Daley family. After reopening the probe last year, Chicago police determined Vanecko had punched the diminutive Koschman after a drunken dispute in the Rush Street night-life district early on April 25, 2004.
Webb has epresented former Gov. George Ryan and has handled numerous other high-profile cases around the country.
In approving a special prosecutor earlier this month, Toomin ripped Chicago police and prosecutors for an investigation that he said raised "troubling questions" about the handling of the case.
"The system has failed (Koschman) up to this point," said Judge Michael Toomin, speaking in a slow, steady voice as he read prepared remarks from the bench.
"This is not a whodunit. We know who did it," Toomin said in clear reference to Daley's nephew, Richard "R.J." Vanecko. "We have a known offender and yet no charges."
Koschman, 21, had been drinking when he and friends argued with a group that included Vanecko. During the altercation, Koschman was punched or shoved, causing him to fall back and hit his head on the street. He died 11 days later.
After a lengthy Sun-Times investigative series prompted the calls for a special prosecutor, Alvarez's office began conducting a joint investigation with the city inspector general.
But Toomin said his review of the case found that it needs to be reinvestigated in part because about a year ago Alvarez called for an independent investigation but has also vigorously defended her office's work in the case.
In a 33-page written ruling released after Toomin finished his remarks from the bench, he quoted multiple times what Alvarez had said when she called for an independent investigation — "It would be a much cleaner investigation if it was somebody who hasn't been involved in the case."
A special prosecutor is needed now "to bring transparency to the mixed signals emanating from this troubling case," Toomin declared in his decision.
Alvarez told reporters she won't appeal Toomin's ruling, but she forcefully continued to defend her office's handling of the case and prosecutors' decision not to file charges against Vanecko.
She noted that Toomin agreed that her connections to Daley — he was state's attorney when Alvarez was hired as a prosecutor in 1986 — did not amount to a conflict of interest for her, as lawyers for Koschman's mother had contended.
"My oath of office does not permit me to run away from issues because they are difficult or unpopular or because I will come under false and unfair political scrutiny," Alvarez said a few minutes after the ruling was announced. "I will not be bullied into any decision on any case that is not supported by the law and admissible evidence."
She said members of the media who described her as a political outsider when she ran for state's attorney now "are trying to disingenuously (label) me as the ultimate political insider and someone who would sacrifice my integrity and throw a case. That innuendo is dishonest. It's misleading; it's absurd and personally insulting to me."
Locke Bowman, who represents the Koschman family, credited Toomin for taking action to begin correcting an injustice.
"There has been just a terrible mess created as a result of a flawed investigation, and we now have a glimmer of hope that we're going to get to the bottom of that mess," Bowman said as Koschman's mother stood at his side.
Toomin's ruling hinged in large part on allegations that police deliberately falsified reports to make it appear that Koschman, who was 5-feet-5 and 140 pounds, was the aggressor during the confrontation with the 6-feet-3, 230-pound Vanecko. The judge blasted police and prosecutors for saying that Vanecko acted in self-defense even though they had never interviewed him.
"The conclusion that must be drawn (is that) this was a defense conjured up by police and prosecutors, made of whole cloth," Toomin said.
He also said the investigation was plagued by what he called "missing-files syndrome, an affliction common to both the Police Department as well as the state's attorney's office."
Koschman's mother, Nanci, who had been pressing for a special prosecutor, said after the ruling that she was "just very happy that the judge listened to everything we had to say."
Her hands shaking and her lips quivering as she tried to hold back tears, she added: "And I hope I finally get some justice for David. I'll go see him this afternoon at the cemetery and tell him that we won one step. Now we'll go for the next one."
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