Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Prosecutors said Tuesday, Aug. 14 that they won't be calling former Cook County Sheriff's Officer Larry Draus to testify in the animal cruelty and neglect trial of Dawn Hamill.
During a pretrial hearing Tuesday in the animal cruelty and neglect case against Dawn Hamill, prosecutors said that they will not be calling former Cook County Sheriff's Office employee Larry Draus, who had been plagued with credibility concerns. However, Hamill's defense attorney Purav Bhatt may subpoena Draus, Bhatt said during a hearing where Judge Anna Helen Demacopoulos ruled on a flurry of pre-trial motions in her Markham courtroom. Sign up to receive a free, daily e-newsletter from Tinley Park Patch. Hamill, 43, is charged with cruelty and neglect in connection with conditions discovered in a Feb. 11, 2011, raid of Tinley Park's Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. About 100 animals were removed from the shelter. …
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
A judge ruled Monday that some of investigator Larry Draus' employee records with the Animal Welfare League could be turned over to Dawn Hamill's defense attorney. Draus was hired with the League after he was indicted on federal charges.
In yet another twist to the animal cruelty case where a Tinley Park animal rescue owner has been accused of neglect, defense attorney Purav Bhatt said he is looking into the relationship between the prosecution's star witness and the director of the Animal Welfare League. Bhatt told Patch Tuesday, that he subpoenaed the Animal Welfare League employment records for Larry Draus, whose photographs and documentation of a 2011 raid on Dazzle's Painted Pastures and Sanctuary as a Cook County investigator helped to secure more than 30 charges related to animal cruelty and neglect against owner Dawn Hamill. Sign up to receive a free daily e-newsletter from Tinley Park Patch. Bhatt said he wants to review the records because Draus was hired by …
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Dazzle's Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary was raided last year partly on the word of a Cook County investigator who is now under federal indictment for extortion. He has also been named in federal civil rights lawsuits.
The credibility of Lawrence A. Draus, the key witness in a criminal case against a Tinley Park animal rescue owner, continues to dog prosecutors and is expected to be the centerpiece of the defense when trial commences later this year. An investigator with the Cook County animal crimes unit, Draus was arrested and indicted on a federal extortion charge in March, just days after he had testified against Dawn Hamill, the owner of Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. Draus contributed to and then led a search warrant that hauled off 100 animals on Feb. 11, 2011, and netted Hamill dozens of charges of animal cruelty and owner's neglect. A federal indictment alleges that Draus accepted cash payoffs from an informant posing as …
Thursday, May 3, 2012
Judge Christopher Donnelly bowed out in light of an anonymous letter he received that tried to persuade his judgment. Dawn Hamill was charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty and owner's neglect following a police raid on her property last year.
Evidence against a Tinley Park animal rescue owner accused of cruelty and neglect that must be presented again because of a mistrial could fall on as many as 13 new sets of ears. That number depends on whether Judge Anna Demacopoulos grants Dawn Hamill, the owner of Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, a jury trial. Judge Christopher Donnelly, who has presided over the case since Hamill’s arrest in February 2011, recused himself from the case on Wednesday, moving the matter and its complexities to Demacopoulos’ courtroom. Citing an anonymous letter he recently received invoking the testimony of one of the state's witnesses, Donnelly said he did not want to give the impression that his judgment had been influenced by an …
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Jondec Painting
17243 Odell Ave, Tinley Park, IL
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Monday, April 9, 2012
A new bench trial against the owner of Dazzle's Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary in Tinley Park is slated for May 2. The mistrial stems from the state's key witness being indicted on federal extortion charges.
A Cook County judge on Monday said a Tinley Park animal cruelty case will start over, ruling it a mistrial on grounds that federal extortion charges recently filed against the state’s key witness have prevented the defendant from getting a fair trial. Cook County sheriff’s police confiscated more than 100 animals from Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary more than a year ago after a former employee complained of poor conditions. The raid, spearheaded by Officer Larry Draus, netted Painted Pastures owner Dawn Hamill more than 30 charges related to animal cruelty and neglect. Want to stay on top of breaking news in Tinley Park? Sign up for our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. Draus, an officer with the Cook County…
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Tinley Park Police Department
7850 183rd St, Tinley Park, IL
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Saturday, April 7, 2012
In Other Courthouse News: A 72-year-old Mokena man was accused of sexually abusing three young relatives. Trial postponed again for animal rescue owner.
The Southland's major criminal and civil cases heard in Cook County and Will County courts this week. TINLEY PARK — Animal Cruelty Trial Postponed Without Presiding Judge Dawn Hamill was charged with several dozen counts of animal cruelty and neglect of owner's duties following a raid on her Tinley Park business in February 2011. Her attorney will try again to get the charges tossed out. NEW LENOX — Attorneys said they have begun “kicking around” a possible plea deal for the man accused of murdering Dwight Jones but have not reached a formal offer. Prosecutors allege that after Rodney Julun bludgeoned Jones inside his New Lenox Township home, in June 2011, he and two other men proceeded to rob Jones’ house over the course of several days. …
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Dawn Hamill was charged with several dozen counts of animal cruelty and neglect of owner's duties following a raid on her Tinley Park business in February 2011. Her attorney will try again to get the charges tossed out.
A bench trial involving the owner of a Tinley Park animal sanctuary was again postponed on Monday—this time in the absence of presiding Judge Christopher Donnelly. Donnelly heard testimony last month from all six of the state’s witnesses on the alleged poor conditions that certain animals were subjected to at Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. For hours the courtroom was redolent with words like “horribly” and “atrocious.” On Feb. 11, 2011, Cook County sheriff’s police confiscated more than 100 animals from Painted Pastures after a former employee complained. The raid netted its owner, Dawn Hamill, more than 30 charges related to animal cruelty and neglect. Hamill's defense attorney, Purav Bhatt, was expected to call …
Tuesday, March 20, 2012
A trial for a woman facing animal abuse and neglect charges after a 2011 raid of her Tinley animal sanctuary was continued Monday morning. A law enforcement official and the case's lead investigator was recently charged with extortion in a separate case.
A bench trial involving the owner of a Tinley Park animal sanctuary was postponed Monday morning after the defense learned that a key witness—a Cook County sheriff’s police official—was recently indicted on federal extortion charges. Larry Draus, a 35-year officer who testified earlier this month against Dawn Hamill, owner of Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, was charged in federal court March 13 along with his son, Lawrence E. “Eric” Draus. The charges are not related to the local animal cruelty case. Hamill's defense attorney Purav Bhatt was expected to call witnesses when the trial resumed Monday. But in light of Draus' arrest, he instead asked for a continuance so he can file several motions "addressing the search …
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Tinley Park Police Department
7850 183rd St, Tinley Park, IL
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Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Prosecutors presented their evidence in what could be the first of three cases against Dawn Hamill.
A county judge heard evidence Wednesday against the owner of a Tinley Park animal sanctuary, denying the defense's efforts to impeach state witnesses, in what could be the first of three trials on accusations of animal cruelty and neglect. Early on Feb. 11, 2011, Cook County sheriff’s police from the animal crimes unit, accompanied by local animal control officers and members of the Animal Welfare League (AWL) in Chicago Ridge, confiscated more than 100 animals from Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary in unincorporated Tinley Park. Want to stay on top of breaking news in Tinley Park? Sign up for our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts. The raid was triggered on the word of a former employee and netted its owner, …
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Dazzle's owner goes to trial March 7. Also, arraignment postponed for man accused of setting fire to his family's south suburban restaurant.
- POLICE & FIRE
- Jesse Marx
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Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Southland's major criminal and civil cases heard in Cook County and Will County courts this week. TINLEY PARK — Trial starts March 7 for Dawn Hamill, the owner of Dazzle’s Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, which was raided nearly one year ago. She faces dozens of counts related to animal cruelty and neglect. More than 100 animals, including a dead cat and horse, were seized from Hamill’s Tinley Park property, which prosecutors have painted as a den of feces and urine, with inadequate space and heat. When put on the stand last month for a pretrial issue, Hamill described an environment of “healthy” and “playful” animals, though she admitted that the sanctuary had been twice cited for unsanitary conditions by the Illinois …
Emma Azo
3:27 pm on Saturday, September 8, 2012
PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO SHUT HER DOWN FOREVER!! It is so sad that it took this long. This woman deserves to die slowly, just like all these poor equines had to. more ›