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The court ruled Wednesday that “the double jeopardy clause prohibits further prosecution even where an acquittal is ‘based upon an egregiously erroneous foundation.'”
The Illinois Attorney General’s office filed motions with the court last month seeking to direct Adams County Judge Robert Adrian to vacate his order acquitting Drew S. Clinton and to sentence him.
After originally finding Clinton guilty on one count of criminal sexual assault in October, Adrian threw out the conviction Jan. 3 when Clinton appeared for sentencing, and said he would not impose the mandatory minimum sentence of four years in prison.
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“Mr. Clinton has served almost five months in the county jail, 148 days,” Adrian said, according to the court transcript of the hearing posted online by local media. “For what happened in this case, that is plenty of punishment. That would be a just sentence.”
But Adrian said if he were to rule that the sentencing statute he was bound to follow was unconstitutional, his decision would be overturned and Clinton would be ordered to prison. In order to avoid an appeal he believed would be successful, Adrian said what he could do was determine that prosecutors had failed to “prove their case” and dismiss the sexual assault charge.
The prosecutor in the case, Anita Rodriguez, said she had never in her 40-year career seen anything like Adrian’s ruling, and worried how it might affect the victim. The Quincy Area Network Against Domestic Abuse, which helps victims of domestic violence and sexual abuse, said the ruling sends a dangerous message.
Adams County State’s Attorney Gary Farha said in a statement “we are extremely disappointed in the recent decision of the Illinois Supreme Court regarding the Drew Clinton criminal case.”
“The decision of the trial judge and the comments he made at sentencing were incredibly insensitive and not supported by the evidence,” Farha said.
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A spokesperson for Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul also expressed disappointment.
Clinton’s attorney Drew Schnack said the Supreme Court action means the case is effectively finished.
The case sparked wide outrage.
In January, Adrian was reassigned to small claims, legal matters and probate documents instead of presiding over the criminal docket.
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