Attorney Sladjana Vuckovic talks to the media after being acquitted of the charges against her. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune)
Attorney Sladjana Vuckovic was acquitted tonight of charges she improperly gave her personal cell phone to a client who was being questioned in the murder of a Chicago police officer.
A Cook County jury deliberated a little less than three hours before acquitting Vuckovic of two counts of bringing contraband into a penal institution.
The jury began deliberating at about 3:55 p.m.
Sladjana Vuckovic, 44, was charged with a felony count of bringing contraband into a penal institution, faced up to 15 years in prison if convicted and would likely be disbarred from practicing law.
In closing arguments this afternoon in Judge Evelyn Clay’s packed courtroom, attorneys from both sides acknowledged the unusual nature of the case.
Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Golden told jurors that “anyone with common sense” should have known not to let a suspect in custody for murder use a personal cell phone.
“You shouldn’t expect that attorneys across the country would be charged with such abysmal behavior,” Golden said.
Vuckovic’s attorney, Leonard Goodman, countered that common sense should tell jurors that Vuckovic wasn’t trying to obstruct the police investigation or “help some suspect cook up an alibi or destroy evidence.”
Goodman suggested to jurors that prosecutors were trying to insinuate there was an insidious motive for the calls “to trick you into convicting her based on something that this case is not about.”
The comment drew vehement objections from prosecutors.
“Counsel says she didn’t know it was wrong?” Golden said. “Well maybe somebody should tell her.”
Vuckovic was volunteering for a free legal service for indigent suspects when she twice went to the Calumet Area headquarters in November 2010 to meet with Timothy Herring after a relative of his had contacted the legal hotline about his arrest. Herring was undergoing questioning by detectives in the slayings of Officer Michael Flisk and another man.
Vuckovic testified in her own defense Wednesday she had made at least 100 client visits at police stations and had never been told that cellphones were prohibited. She said she was vaguely aware of a state law prohibiting bringing contraband into a penal institution but thought it barred "knives, guns, drugs." She also said that unlike a police lockup where suspects are behind bars, she didn't consider an interrogation room to be a penal institution.
Prosecutors alleged that 26 calls were made from or received by Vuckovic's cell phone during two meetings with Herring, including incoming calls from a number that was blocked.
jmeisner@tribune.com
Attorney accused of letting suspect use cellphone acquitted
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Attorney accused of letting suspect use cellphone acquitted
