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In 1978, eighteen-year-old Tony Cooks was accused of murdering John Franklin Gould.  Gould, 42, had been accosted by three black teenagers one evening while he and his wife walked down a street near their Paramount apartment. Gould was beaten, stabbed, and shot.  Gould’s wife told police that the assailant was “a light-skinned black.” Police showed her a photo-lineup in which Cooks was the only light-skinned black, and she told police, “I can’t be positive, but I think that’s him.”  However, at trial, Gould’s wife would positively identify Cooks.

Another witness, Helen Foster, who said she saw the nighttime crime 177 feet from her apartment window, identified Cooks as one of the assailants.  Two days after Cooks’ arrest, a 14-year-old youth was also arrested after he confessed to his involvement in the crime; the youth then accused Cooks as also being a participant in the crime.  Based on these identifications, Cooks was indicted for murder.

Cooks’ first trial ended up in a hung jury; his second trial ended in a mistrial; his third trial ended in a hung jury. Finally, at his fourth trial, in 1981, Cooks was convicted of Gould’s murder. However, the trial judge expressed skepticism about the eyewitness identifications and overturned the conviction.  The prosecutor appealed the judge’s decision and an appellate court reinstated the conviction.  The judge, forced to pronounce sentence, ordered Cooks to prison for sixteen years to life, but freed him on $5,000 bond pending appeal.  On appeal Cooks won the right to a fifth trial.

In 1986, at Cooks’ fifth trial, it was revealed that the 14 year-old eyewitness against Cooks had told his probation officer that his testimony was a “lie” he made up in order to satisfy a persistent detective who would not take "no" for an answer.  The fifth trial jury voted to acquit Cooks.  (Ramsey Dissertation)  [10/07]

Perry Cobb and Darby Williams Tillis were convicted and sentenced to death for murdering Melvin Kanter and Charles Gucciona during the robbery of their hot dog stand.  Both were sentenced to death.  The prosecution's key witness was a woman named Phyllis Santini, who claimed that she had driven the getaway car for the two men.  The defense argued that Santini and her boyfriend, Johnny Brown, had committed the crimes, and that she was framing Cobb and Tillis.  The first trial ended in a hung jury, as did a second trial.

At the third trial, a witness who had earlier testified that he could not identify the defendants as the men he saw, suddenly changed his story and now claimed that he saw Cobb and Tillis enter the store.  This third trial in 1979 ended in convictions and death sentences.  Judge Thomas J. Maloney presided over the three trials and has since been convicted of taking bribes to fix murder cases.  He was accused of being tough on defendants like Cobb and Tillis who did not offer bribes.  Maloney refused to allow two defense witnesses to testify.  The two claimed Santini had admitted committing the murders with Brown.  The two also said she expected a reward for her testimony against Cobb and Tillis.  (She was in fact paid $1200.)  The Illinois Supreme Court reversed the convictions based on limitations that were put on the defense's ability to argue that Santini and her boyfriend were the true culprits.

While the parties were preparing for a fourth trial, Michael Falconer, a recent law school graduate, happened to read an account of the case in Chicago Lawyer.  Falconer recognized Santini's name because he had worked with her in a factory before going to law school.  At that time, Santini had confided in him that she and her boyfriend had committed a double homicide and that she was working with prosecutors in return for a deal that would keep her from being charged.  Falconer, who had then become a Lake County prosecutor, testified about this conversation at the fourth trial, which again ended in a hung jury.  Finally, at a fifth trial in 1987, both Cobb and Tillis were acquitted of all charges.  (NL: Cobb, Tillis) (Profiles of Injustice) (PC)  [12/06]