IL Karen McCarron attempts to reduce sentence
Indigo Ace
McCarron attempts to reduce sentence
Morton woman talkative as she requests private meeting with judge
Thursday, May 15, 2008
BY KEVIN SAMPIER
of the Journal Star
PEKIN - Convicted child killer Karen McCarron tried to reduce her
36-year prison sentence by requesting an unorthodox meeting with a
judge without any attorneys present, but was denied.
McCarron appeared Wednesday in Tazewell County Circuit Court with her
attorney, Marc Wolfe, on a motion to reduce the sentence that was
handed down April 1 by Judge Stephen Kouri.
"I would like to speak to the judge alone," said an unusually
talkative McCarron during the hearing.
McCarron said she wanted to tell Kouri about new issues that weren't
brought up during her nine-day jury trial in January.
"There is information that was not presented at the trial," said
McCarron, who spoke more Wednesday than any other time in court and
carried on a conversation with Kouri.
Specifically, McCarron said her mental state at the time she wrapped a
garbage bag around the head of her 3-year-old autistic daughter and
suffocated her in 2006 should have been given more consideration.
"Mental illness was a more significant mitigating factor," said
McCarron, who used an insanity defense during the trial.
Since being sentenced, she has been housed at the Dwight Correctional
Facility in a mental health unit.
Kevin Johnson, chief assistant Tazewell County state's attorney,
objected to any private meeting that would be held outside the
presence of both attorneys and the public.
"That's not what this proceeding is for," Johnson said, adding that
giving McCarron a chance to do so would be like a new sentencing
hearing.
"That's not how the system works," he said, pointing out there is no
legal precedence, rule or case law to support it.
The private meeting was denied, but McCarron gave Kouri a packet of
hand-written information to consider. Kouri denied the request to drop
McCarron's sentence to 20 years.
"I was hoping you'd read it before you denied my motion," McCarron
said. "That was the purpose of me writing it in the first place."
She was found guilty Jan. 17 of two counts of first-degree murder, one
count of obstructing justice and one count of concealment of a
homicidal death for the killing.
She must serve 100 percent of the 36-year sentence, making her 75
years old when she is scheduled for release.
Wolfe said now that the request for a lower sentence has been denied,
he plans to begin the appeal process.
"She is likely a wonderful candidate for rehabilitation," Wolfe said.
Kevin Sampier can be reached at 346-5300 or ksampier @pjstar.com.
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/051508/TRI_BGKIVF59.045.php
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