At 2:30 on a cool, overcast April afternoon in 1998, a white sheriff’s bus pulls up behind the Cook County Criminal Courthouse, and the Locallo entourage boards. Judge Daniel Locallo had asked the sheriff’s office for the bus and a driver this morning, annoying the chief of security in the courthouse, Ed Hassel, who would have preferred a little more notice. But it’s par for the course for Locallo, according to Hassel, who says Locallo makes more special requests of the sheriff’s office than any other judge at 26th and California, and often with little regard for the difficulties the requests might impose.
The red sneaker is the key piece of evidence because Demus said it slipped off Pouncy’s foot in front of the house, and Pouncy said it came off in the gangway as he was vaulting a fence. A police photo of the crime scene shows a downspout right behind the shoe. Pouncy’s lawyer had argued that this showed Pouncy lost the shoe in the gangway, corroborating his version of events. But Locallo said he couldn’t tell for sure from the photo that the downspout was in the gangway, so he scheduled the trip to the scene.
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The crew boarding the bus this afternoon consists of prosecutors Andrew Dalkin and Mark Ostrowski; Pouncy and his lawyer, public defender John Conniff; courtroom deputies Gil Guerrero and Laura Rhodes; a court reporter; Locallo; and myself. It’s a midsize bus with a dozen two-person seats. The prosecutors take a seat at the front, while the 25-year-old Pouncy, the only black on board, heads straight for the rear. Conniff parks himself in the seat in front of his client, and Locallo settles in across the aisle from Conniff.
“That what you like to do, Gil?” Locallo calls out.
Earlier today Locallo made his ruling in the bench trial of a defendant named Hector Padilla, who’d been accused of shooting a young man to death in a south-side Mexican neighborhood. Padilla’s mother, father, and sister had testified that Hector had been with them on the evening in question, watching a video. But that hadn’t been enough to overcome the confession Padilla had given and the two eyewitnesses who’d fingered him. Locallo had found him guilty, declaring, with unusual vehemence for him, that he believed the Padilla family had simply lied for him.
Conniff shakes his head.
“Keyser Soze,” Locallo says. “There’s just so many twists to it.” He pauses, eyeing Pouncy, then says, “Terrence Pouncy, usual suspect.” He and Pouncy trade grins, and then Pouncy quickly and bashfully turns back to his window.
