Vincent Gaughan
American judge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Vincent Michael Gaughan is a Cook County Circuit Court judge in Cook County, Illinois[1][2] who presided in the historic trial of Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago Police officer who murdered Laquan McDonald.[3]
Vincent Michael Gaughan | |
|---|---|
| Cook County Circuit Court Judge | |
| Assumed office 1992 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | c. 1941 |
| Citizenship | American |
| Alma mater | University of Illinois DePaul University College of Law |
| Occupation | Retired Judge |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States of America |
| Branch/service |  United States Army |
Years of service | ( –1968) |
| Rank |  Second lieutenant |
| Battles/wars | Vietnam War |
| Awards |  Bronze Star Medal with "V" device |
Early years
Gaughan's parents were Irish immigrants[4] who attended the St. Vincent de Paul Church, their local parish church. He was named "Vincent".[2] Their family home was in Lincoln Park.[4]
Education
In 1964, he earned his Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) at the University of Illinois.[4] He earned his law degree at DePaul University College of Law and was admitted to the Illinois bar in September 1972.[4]
Career
Gaughan joined the army after university and graduated from the Artillery Officer Candidate School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma where he was "commissioned as a second lieutenant.[4] He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor for his service in the Vietnam War (-1968).[4]
He worked in the Cook County public defender's office from 1973 until 1991.[4] He started as a courtroom lawyer.[4] Later he was a "felony trial lawyer supervisor". In 1991, he was appointed to the Cook County, Illinois bench. He was elected as a judge in 1992.[4][2]
In May and June 2008, he presided over the jury trial of the American singer and record producer, R. Kelly,[5][6] in which Kelly was acquitted on all counts of child pornography charges.[4] The men were found guilty in the Brown's Chicken massacre case in 2007 and 2009, were convicted in Gaughan's courtroom.[4]
Judge Gaughan presided in the historic trial of Jason Van Dyke, the police officer who murdered the 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois.[7][3] On June 6, 2016, Judge Gaughan agreed to name a special prosecutor for this case.[8] On October 5, 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second degree murder.[9] Judge Gaughan set the sentencing hearing date for January 18, 2019 and "lifted a decorum order, which will allow the Chicago Police Board to move ahead with disciplinary action against Van Dyke."[10] The New York Times described it as the case that changed Chicago.[11][1] A revealing February 10, 2015 article in Slate entitled "Sixteen Shots" by an independent Chicago-based journalist, placed the Chicago Police Department under public scrutiny.[12][Notes 1] In 2015, a year after McDonald's murder, a Cook County judged ordered the City of Chicago to release police dashboard-camera video showing Van Dyke shooting the victim.[1] On December 13, 2017, Judge Gaughan, "quashed a subpoena seeking the reporter Jamie Kalven's testimony, ending a battle over Mr. Kalven’s sources" saying that "the subpoena by the defense lacked specifics and sought 'irrelevant and privileged material'".[1]
An article in the Chicago Tribune, described the case as "another high-profile trial" for Judge M. Gaughan, an "idiosyncratic judge who set the standard for how Cook County handles headline-making cases" in his "ornate courtroom" with a "distant view of Chicago's skyline.[2] According to The New York Times, Judge Gaughan "is viewed as a mercurial jurist."[11] Attorney Steven Greenberg said that "If you’re Jason Van Dyke, I don't think you can ask for a better judge to hear this case. Judge Gaughan is unique and he's certainly opinionated, but he will go out of his way to make sure everyone gets a fair hearing."[2]
Personal life
When Vincent Gaughan returned from Vietnam, he lived with his parents in Lincoln Park.[4] In April 1970, then 28-year-old Gaughan was charged with four counts of aggravated assault after allegedly firing four rounds from an M1 Garand at a neighbor's house.[4][13] Journalists Steve Bogira and Jim DeRogatis later investigated the allegations and were unable to determine the outcome of the case.[13]
Gaughan has been active in the Illinois branch of the American Legion since the 1990s when he served as its commander.[4]
Notes
- According to Julie Bosman's New York Times article, the key evidence in the case was a controversial police dashboard-camera video showing the accused shooting the victim, that was not presented as evidence until an independent Chicago journalist, Jamie Kalven, revealed its existence. Kalven received a tip from a source in November 2014, a month after the murder took place, which led "Kalven to a civilian who had seen the entire episode". Two months later Kalven read the autopsy report saying that McDonald had been shot 16 times.