Judge gives state police deadline in dispute over fatal shooting info
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<p align="justify">A judge on Tuesday gave the Illinois State Police 30 days to respond to a Freedom of Information request a Peoria lawyer filed six months ago related to the fatal shooting of a Lacon man by a Marshall County sheriff's deputy.
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<p align="justify">Circuit Judge Stuart Borden showed little patience with an assistant Illinois attorney general's claim the agency is still "diligently working" to gather materials related to the shooting of Scott Sheets Jr., 23. The April 29 shooting was declared justifiable and the investigation was closed by Marshall County State's Attorney Paul Bauer last July.
<p align="justify">"I find your reasoning unacceptable," Borden told Assistant Attorney General James Rammelkamp during a hearing in Peoria County court.
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<p align="justify">Attorney Daniel Cusack, who represents Sheets family members for a possible civil suit, filed the request shortly after Bauer's decision. Through partner Joseph Gilfillan, he sued the state police in October for allegedly violating the Illinois FOI Act by not responding according to statutory requirements to requests for items cited in the agency's own written reports on the incident.
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<p align="justify">"The Freedom of Information Act requires them to respond within seven days," Gilfillan said during Tuesday's hearing on his motion for a default judgment. "We filed the request July 19, 2007. The only response we got was after we filed a lawsuit."
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<p align="justify">Among the numerous materials mentioned in the reports but not provided to Cusack are audio and videotape interviews with Deputy Wayne Strawn, who shot Sheets in a roadside confrontation witnessed by family members along Illinois Route 26 south of Lacon; an audiotape interview with Lacon police Officer Richard Weers, who was at the scene; and crime scene photos taken by ISP investigators.
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<p align="justify">"The stuff they're withholding isn't little bitty stuff. It's key," Cusack said outside court.
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<p align="justify">Rammelkamp repeated statements made in court filings seeking more time to "gather and examine the documents" before responding to the request.
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<p align="justify">"The state fully intends to provide all the documents," he said, though he emphasized he could not "personally guarantee" when that would be.
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<p align="justify">"I don't understand the state of Illinois' position," Borden said, since the request seems to involve a "fairly concise" group of documents. But he gave the state until Feb. 15 to respond, then set a Feb. 26 hearing for possible further action on the motion for default.
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<p align="justify">"We're going to ask for sanctions, and we're going to ask for attorney fees," Cusack said after the hearing, "because we've had to go through all this stuff just to prove the state police are not above the law."
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<p align="center">Reach Journal Star reporter Gary L. Smith at (309) 686-3041 or state@pjstar.com.
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