Release Granted!

Although I have not seen the court order, the news has just arrived that the Court of Appeals granted Rob's release motion. I don't know how long it will take for him to be tagged and released back into the wild, but I understand that bond will be posted just as soon as the Peoria County Circuit Clerk gets the official ruling. This is way better than Bastille Day!!! More to come...

No news - yet

Greetings,

We still have not heard when Rob will be released on bond.

Keep checking next week as we hope to hear soon.

Thanks for your support and patience. Keep your prayers and well-wishes coming!

Release Efforts

Rob's attorneys filed a Motion for Release today with the Illinois Court of Appeals. The motion referred to the previous times that Rob has been on pretrial release or bond and the fact that he never once abused that privilege. The motion also referred to his extensive and committed group of family and friends. The last time that Rob asked for release by the appellate court it was granted, and, of course, Rob met all of his obligations and conditions of release.

The motion also indicates that the Appellate prosecutor will move for Leave of Court to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court. It is my understanding that leave is not often granted. What effect will this have on Rob's request for release? The court must find compelling circumstances to deny Rob's release. Rob has acted with honor and dignity throughout this ordeal and I cannot imagine what compelling circumstances would exist to deny his release.

Hi everyone,

By now I hope you all know that Rob has been granted a new trial. Thanks to the excellent work of the Northwestern Center for Wrongful Convictions, the Illinois Court of Appeals reversed the decision of the trial court.

The Court relied primarily on error in the exclusion of Rob's forensic expert witness. The Court also held that certain testimony should not have been admitted.

QUESTIONS YOU MAY HAVE:

Q1. Will Rob be released until his next trial? A1. On Thursday 7/16 Rob's attorney moved for a bond hearing. Since he has been in and out a few times there is a reasonably good chance that he should be out on bond but we don't know. We also don't know where the hearing will be held and we aren't sure who will represent him.

Q2. When will the new trial be held? A2. Our best guess is 6 months to a year.

Q3. May the prosecution decline to retry the case? A3. Yes.

Q4. How is Rob doing? A4. He is hanging in there. He has adapted to prison conditions and he is coping well, under the circumstances. He wants to be assured that we all support him and are working actively to get him out of there.

More updates will be posted as they are available.

Thank you!

Appeal Heard - Awaiting Decision

Greetings and thanks for checking in.

Rob's appeal was heard on January 27th.

We are awaiting a decision. It would be more than a month or as little as a few weeks before we hear the decision. There were several issues upon which to base a decision in Rob's favor. It could result in complete exoneration or a new trial. I will update this blog as soon as I hear.

Please pass on this information to anyone who is interested. Thank you.