Incredible Story of Wacky Judge in Chicago [View all]

Cook County Judge a Loose Cannon

by David Protess, Huffington Post

Serbian immigrant Marko Pantelic drove across town to the Leighton Criminal Court Building on Sept. 6 to support a wrongfully accused friend and "to see how justice works in America." He should have stayed home.

Pantelic, 26, took a seat in the third row of courtroom 506 next to his friend, Bratislav Kovacevic, who figured prosecutors would drop battery charges against him. This was not unrealistic considering that the victim, Marija Nikolska, admitted she had misidentified him as the mope who broke her nose.

The victim's advocate, Spomenka Luedi, M.D. and DDS., sat directly behind the men, pleased that Nikolska was in court to rectify her mistake. Glancing at the judge, Luedi thought it odd that she kept zipping and unzipping her robe, but this judge had some weird mannerisms. The zipping and unzipping intensified. Then the judge fixed her gaze on Pantelic, and the zipping stopped.

"Mr. Pantelic leaned over to his friend and whispered something during a recess," Luedi said in an interview. "At this point, the judge went berserk."

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-protess/cook-county-judge-a-loose_b_3973197.html