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Public Affairs coverage from our award-winning staff |
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Sanchez Back in Court
Produced by Rob Wildeboer on Sunday, October 18, 2009
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(AP/file) |
A federal judge is scheduled to review the conviction Monday of former Chicago Streets and Sanitation commissioner, Al Sanchez.
Sanchez and another former city worker Aaron Del Valle were convicted last year for giving out city jobs to people who did political work for Mayor Richard Daley, and other Daley-backed candidates. But defense attorneys are hoping to overturn those convictions because prosecutors failed to turn over evidence about one of their witnesses, Brian Gabriel.
They didn't disclose that he was an admitted gang member or that he been dealing cocaine just a month before he went on the stand to testify. In a court filing prosecutors say they had no knowledge of the ongoing drug investigation when Sanchez went on trial. Defense attorneys say that criminal conduct would have affected Gabriel's credibility in the minds of jurors.
Prosecutors argue Gabriel's testimony wasn't a crucial part of the government's case and Sanchez and Del Valle would have been convicted even if the defense had known about Gabriel's crimes.
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