In always-busy Cook County court, high-profile cases likely to make news in 2023
In 2022 at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, Jussie Smollett was sentenced to 150 days in jail after he was convicted the year before in arguably the most highly publicized Cook County trial for a low-level felony.
At least two well-known and long-serving judges retired.
Convictions were reversed in dozens of cases involving disgraced former members of the Chicago Police Department as city and county officials continued to grapple with the alleged pervasive harm done by ex-Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts and others.
In the coming year, Cook County judges and attorneys will be navigating a new system for making pretrial decisions while tackling the usual onslaught of cases in the always-busy court system. Here are some of the high-profile cases likely to make news in 2023:
R. Kelly case
R. Kelly still faces four separate indictments in Cook County, even though he is already serving a 30-year federal sentence in New York and is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court here in Chicago this year.
Cook County prosecutors have alleged Kelly sexually abused or assaulted four people, three of whom were underage girls at the time.
But the Cook County cases have lingered on the docket, delayed while the federal cases proceeded first. Kelly’s attorneys have filed at least one motion to dismiss one of his Cook County indictments.
In recent months, as the federal cases are winding to a close, Judge Lawrence Flood has told attorneys to start working to resolve the matter.
Kelly’s next court date is Jan. 18.
Ella French case
Chicago police Officer Ella French, 29, was shot and killed in August 2021, while her partner, Carlos Yanez Jr., was seriously injured during a traffic stop in West Englewood.
Cook County prosecutors charged two brothers, Emonte and Eric Morgan, in the attack. Emonte Morgan was charged with first-degree murder and other felonies, while Eric Morgan faces weapons charges as well as a count of obstruction of justice.
Prosecutors alleged that Emonte Morgan fired multiple shots at the officers after French and two partners stopped a gray SUV driven by Eric Morgan. Emonte Morgan was also shot during the confrontation.
Charges against the brothers have remained pending for more than a year. They are next scheduled to make an appearance on Feb. 23.
Marlen Ochoa-Lopez case
In a brutal attack that shocked the city in 2019, 19-year-old Marlen Ochoa-Lopez, nine months pregnant, was strangled, with her baby boy cut from her womb.
Prosecutors charged three people in connection with the slaying: Clarisa Figueroa, her daughter, Desiree, and Clarisa’s boyfriend, Piotr Bobak. They alleged the trio lured her with baby items before killing her and cutting the baby from the womb. The boy died at Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn.
Clarisa Figueroa most recently appeared in court in December, where her attorneys argued that a judge should quash her arrest and suppress evidence found when police searched her home.
A judge will rule on the motion on Jan. 12. Desiree Figueroa and Bobak also have court appearances scheduled in early 2023.
Jussie Smollett
Though Smollett was sentenced in March after he was convicted of staging a hoax hate crime, he has yet to serve time and is appealing his conviction.
Smollett was released from the Cook County Jail on a $150,000 recognizance bond, which would not require him to post any money while his appeal is pending. He is arguing that his prosecution violated his double-jeopardy rights.
He was tried by a special prosecutor after the Cook County state’s attorney’s office dismissed the case in a move that spurred widespread criticism.
Smollett was convicted of low-level felonies in the bizarre case, which generated international media attention.
His attorneys have asked for multiple extensions to file briefs in the appeal, but said in their most recent filing that this extension request would be the last.
The briefs are due Jan. 25.
