Soderquist wants new trial; says judge slept on bench
Chicago Tribune
September 22, 2015 - 7:33 PM
Attorneys for former Lake Station Mayor Keith Soderquist are asking for a new trial because they say the federal judge fell asleep at least twice during his recent public corruption trial.
A federal jury in Hammond convicted both Soderquist and his wife, Deborah Soderquist, on Sept. 11 on public corruption charges after an eight-day trial at the U.S. District Court.
Scott King and Lakeisha Murdaugh, attorneys for the Soderquists, filed three motions Tuesday, including a motion for a new trial and a motion for a new judge.
They say in the motions that U.S. District Judge Rudy Lozano appeared to fall asleep several times during the trial.
"(There were) several times with my clients when my associate Lakeisha Murdaugh said 'he's asleep, he's asleep,'" King said Tuesday evening.
The attorney added that he heard people in the audience talk during breaks about seeing the judge nod off.
King said it's important for a judge to be aware of everything that's going on during a trial so that he can properly rule on any objections, requests to submit evidence, jury instructions and more.
"This is not pleasant for me to bring up, and I've known Judge Lozano since before he was a judge," he said. "But I have to represent my clients, and I think that due process requires a judge that's fully alert and engaged during the entire process."
He added that although the parties can go back and look at the transcript, that doesn't catch how a witness sounded or looked, for instance.
King said the most egregious moment happened toward the end of the case. The government had made an objection, King responded and the judge, who was looking down, did not appear to hear. King called for a sealed hearing at that point.
The attorneys also argued that Lozano should be removed because he cannot make an impartial ruling on the motion for a new trial, noting that he denied during the trial to have been asleep.
The third motion asks that security video feed from the trial be preserved as evidence of whether the judge slept during the trial and, if so, how much.
King said because he was focused on the case during the trial, he doesn't know how often the judge slept, which is part of the problem because he doesn't know just how much Lozano missed.
"I honestly don't know," he said.
Federal attorneys argued during the trial that the Soderquists used money from his campaign election fund and the city's food pantry to pay for more than 50 gambling trips from 2010 to 2012 to the Four Winds Casino in New Buffalo, Mich. The jury agreed, finding them guilty of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, seven counts of wire fraud and three counts of lying on their income tax returns. Soderquist was automatically removed from office when he was found guilty.
The Soderquists still have a second trial coming up in a separate case. Deborah Soderquist's daughter, Miranda Brakley, is charged with stealing money from the city when she worked there as a court clerk, and the Soderquists are accused of helping her hide the crime. All three have pleaded not guilty in that case.
Lozano is also overseeing that case, and King said Tuesday he did not know yet whether they would also ask for a new judge in that case.
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