May 20, 2008 6:19 pm US/Central
Public Defender Pursues Lawsuit Against Stroger
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
Todd Stroger said Tuesday that he will stop trying to fire the Cook County public defender. But Edwin Burnette says he is not dropping a lawsuit accusing Stroger of patronage hiring abuses.
CBS 2 Political Editor Mike Flannery reports Burnette claims that at a one-on-one meeting with Stroger Monday, the two failed to settle all their differences, but did agree to draft a joint policy statement.
So, Burnette said he was astounded when Stroger deputy Eugene Mullins issued a statement repeatedly misspelling Burnette's name and declaring "Mr. Burnett has agreed to comply with policy and legislative mandates set forth by the President's office."
Burnette said Mullins refused to answer his repeated personal phone calls. Stroger claimed an unnamed journalist told Mullins Burnette didn't care if Mullins called.
"Oop. This is a problem here. This is what I'll say. That is, Mr. Burnette told a reporter -- I told Mullins about listenin' to reporters --- and the reporter said that Mr. Burnette said talk to you and whatever you said would be the statement," Stroger said.
"Not plausible is a nice way of putting it," said Burnette's attorney William Hooks. "It's inaccurate. It's not the truth."
Burnette would not talk on camera. He's still pushing a lawsuit filed last year after Stroger allegedly fired at least a dozen public defender employees and in some cases, Burnette claimed, replaced them with unqualified patronage hires.
"Mr. Burnette should have stood up on the tallest soap box in Cook County and announced it to the world at the appropriate time, when it happened, not when his own skin was at risk," said County Commissioner Tony Peraica.
The battle with Burnette boiled over because Stroger was trying to fire the public defender for "dereliction of duty," and wanted the County Board to hold the hearing in private, without public access.
Burnette told CBS 2 he is going to appear at Rainbow PUSH this Saturday to thank Rev. Jesse Jackson for his support.
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