By Jeffrey Felshman
On the morning of his trial McDowell showed up bruised and battered, saying he’d been beaten by five guards at Cook County Jail. McDowell’s court-appointed lawyer, Thomas O’Hara, says his client assured him that his physical condition in no way influenced his decision to plead guilty. But the following day McDowell wrote a petition to withdraw his plea that hinged on the beating. He then filed a complaint with the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), which stated that O’Hara had only met with him a few times, done little to investigate the case, and convinced him that the evidence was overwhelming when it wasn’t.
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McDowell entered the room dressed in a bright yellow jumpsuit that hung off his slender frame like a spent parachute and took a seat between Kling and Trinkaus. From the back he looked like a no-pass stripe on a two-lane highway.
“I wasn’t present when it happened,” Moore said. Kling, who was there, offered that Kennedy had stepped down because he’d worked in the public defender’s office at 26th and California at the same time as O’Hara. “For what it’s worth, I was also an assistant public defender during O’Hara’s tenure at 26th and California,” Kling said. “But I didn’t know him.”
“I may join Mr. McDowell in lockup,” Kling responded, rising to his feet, “but I will not attach my name to a plea alleging Judge O’Hara is a liar.”
Out in the hall, Kling dialed a number on his cell phone. “You’re cross-examining Judge O’Hara,” he said to Trinkaus. When Norwell joined them, he repeated the joke.
