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2011 PULITZER PRIZE WINNER LOCAL REPORTING

KOSCHMANSMOM ASKSFORSPECIAL PROSECUTOR

WHO KILLED DAVID KOSCHMAN? | A WATCHDOGS INVESTIGATION

She wants independent probe of her sons death at the hands of Daley nephew PAGES 2-3

2 | CHICAGO SUN-TIMES | THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011

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THURSDAY
Watchdogs...................... 2, 3 Weather ............................ 62 Barrett......................... 42, 43 Brown.................................. 8 Dear Abby ......................... 41 Fountain ............................ 33 Lavin.................................. 41 Mitchell............................. 12 Roeper............................... 11 Sneed .................................. 4 Stella ................................. 28 Telander ............................ 82 Warmbir............................ 32 Weiss................................. 39 Zwecker............................. 38

WHO KILLED DAVID KOSCHMAN? | A WATCHDOGS INVESTIGATION

COLUMNISTS

KOSCHMAN MOM: APPOINT SPECIAL PROSECUTOR

Asks for independent probe of death at the hands of Daley nephew
BY TIM NOVAK AND CHRIS FUSCO
Staff Reporters

The photo of Mahalia Jackson used with Tuesdays story about Live From the Old Town School is a copyrighted image by photographer Art Shay.

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More than seven years after her 21-year-old son David Koschman died as the result of a punch thrown by a nephew of then-Mayor Richard M. Daley, Nanci Koschman asked Wednesday for the appointment of a special prosecutor to re-examine the entire case, asserting that criminal charges would have been filed long ago if not for the Daley family connection. The Mount Prospect woman asked Chief Cook County Criminal Courts Judge Paul Biebel Jr. to name an independent, outside prosecutor to investigate David Koschmans 2004 death after being punched in the face by Richard J. R.J. Vanecko and determine whether criminal charges should be filed against Vanecko. She also asked that the special prosecutor examine the conduct of the Chicago Police Department and the Cook County states attorneys office in investigating the death, which at various points was labeled by authorities as a homicide case and a murder but never resulted in any criminal

Nanci Koschman talks about her son, David, at her home in Mount Prospect in February. | TOM CRUZE~SUN-TIMES
charges. Had Vanecko not been a member of the powerful Daley family, he would have been charged with the homicide, Koschman says in court papers filed on behalf of her, her sister Susan Pazderski and brother-in-law Richard Pazderski by attorneys Locke E. Bowman and Alexa Van Brunt of Northwestern University Law Schools Roderick MacArthur Justice Center and G. Flint Taylor of the Peoples Law Office. Mr. Vanecko is not entitled to escape prosecution simply because he is the nephew of former Mayor Daley. The court filing has harsh

words for the conduct of the police and prosecutors, citing one by name assistant states attorney Darren OBrien, who originally was consulted by the police in determining that no charges would be filed. The handling of this matter by the Chicago police and the Cook County states attorneys office raises questions that cry out for objective, unbiased investigation, the attorneys write, including a.) whether police investigators prepared false official reports; b.) whether police investigators, ASA OBrien and/or other employees of the Cook County states attorneys office conspired to cover up Mr. Vaneckos criminal responsibility for Koschmans death; and c.) whether Mr. Vanecko should be charged in connection with that death. Appointing a special prosecutor would be an unusual step but not without precedent. Ten years ago, Bowman and Taylor filed a similar petition that resulted in Biebel naming a special prosecutor to investigate torture allegations leveled against the Chicago Police Department and former police Cmdr. Jon Burge. Though the special prosecutor determined that no charges could be filed because so much time had passed, Burge was convicted in federal court of perjury for lying

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in sworn testimony about allegations he presided over the torture of criminal suspects from the 1970s to the early 1990s. Burge is serving a four-year prison sentence. Koschman, who lived with his mother in Mount Prospect and was a part-time college student, died on May 6, 2004, of brain injuries that resulted from being punched in the face in a drunken confrontation on Division Street near Dearborn Street in the early-morning hours of April 25, 2004. His death was listed by the police as an open and unsolved homicide until early this year, when detectives re-examined the case and ultimately closed it without seeking criminal charges but, for the first time, identified Vanecko, who was 29 at the time of the confrontation, as having thrown the deadly punch. The police reinvestigated the case after the Chicago Sun-Times filed a request to examine police files in Koschmans death. In more than two dozen reports published since Feb. 28, the newspaper uncovered problems with the way the investigation was handled and revealed that the Cook County states attorneys office though initially involved in deciding not to file criminal charges was now unable to find its files on the politically charged case. The Sun-Times investigation which the court filing Wednesday cites extensively also found that: One of two bystanders described by prosecutors as

witness told him was the first official indication that the police had ever been told Read the petition at anything that contradicted suntimes.com/news/ their conclusion that Koswatchdogs. chman had been the aggressor. The Sun-Times investigathe only unbiased witnesses said it was a flat-out lie tion has prompted an ongothat the 5-foot-5, 140-pound ing investigation by Joseph Koschman had been the ag- Ferguson, the city of Chicagressor in the confrontation gos inspector general, into with the 6-foot-3, 230-pound how the police handled the Vanecko and that Vanecko case. States Attorney Anita acted only in self-defense, as Alvarezs office is assisting the police and prosecutors Ferguson. A special prosecutor maintained. rather than Alvarez Two Koschman friends who were with him that should oversee any new investigation, Nanci night said they never Koschmans lawyers told detectives some maintain, because Alof the things the povarez and her attorlice said they did. neys office have too Vanecko ran many conflicts of inoff with one of his terest concerning the friends and hopped in case, having declined a taxi after punching to file charges seven Koschman. Richard J. years ago and assert One of Vaneckos R.J. ing that theres still friends had lied to Vanecko no reason to charge the police twice anyone. about what happened States Attorney Anita the night of the confrontaAlvarez retains a clear polittion. ical and personal inter The police closed their reinvestigation even though est in the case, the petition some of its files on the case says. Despite the suspicious were missing and hadnt circumstances surrounding been reviewed by the detec- the Koschman investigation, tive handling the new inves- Alvarez has publicly defended the work of the Chicago tigation. One of the key miss- police and the Cook County ing documents included states attorneys felony rea notation that one of the view unit, insisting to Sunwitnesses had told the po- Times reporters that there lice Vanecko was acting in was insufficient evidence to a very aggressive manner charge Vanecko. Alvarez is in no position toward Koschman in the moments before punching him. now to conduct the kind of That statement which probing and objective fresh was scratched out on the de- look that this matter so urtectives report of what the gently requires.

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The filing zeroes in particularly on OBrien, an assistant states attorney who headed the felony review unit seven years ago and determined that there wasnt enough evidence to file charges in Koschmans death. OBrien . . . is necessarily a subject of and/or a witness in the investigation, the Koschman familys lawyers write. They also question why it took seven years for the police to identify Vanecko as the man who punched Koschman. Despite . . . witness statements, the 2004 Chicago police investigation was closed without charges in part because the police claimed to be unable to determine the identity of the person who had thown the fatal punch, they write. Such a blatant failure to connect the dots has the hallmarks of an investigation governed by polititics, not professionalism. At the time of Koschmans death, Alvarez was chief of staff to then-Cook County States Attorney Richard Devine, a close friend of the Daley family who now, as an attorney in private practice, represents one of Vaneckos brothers in an unrelated civil lawsuit over the investment of city pension funds. Asked about the petition filed by the Koschman family, Alvarezs spokeswoman, Sally Daly, said: We received the petition late in the day . . . and we have not had the opportunity to review the details.

Mr. Vanecko is not entitled to escape prosecution simply because he is the nephew of former Mayor Daley.
FILING ON BEHALF OF NANCI KOSCHMAN
Alvarezs office has been at odds with Northwestern attorneys Bowman and Van Brunts employer over an unrelated case in which the school challenged a murder conviction, and prosecutors questioned whether student journalists at Northwestern misrepresented themselves in investigating that case. Ferguson declined to comment. Vaneckos attorneys, Terence Gillespie and Marc Martin, couldnt be reached for comment. The Better Government Association plans to file a brief supporting Nanci Koschmans request for a special prosecutor, said Andy Shaw, the watchdog groups president and chief executive. Were not demanding that anyone be charged with a crime, Shaw said. Were filing this document to make sure David Koschmans homicide is investigated in an objective, fair way because were not sure that occurred.

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