COOK COUNTY STATE'S ATTORNEY ANITA ALVAREZ BLOCKS PROBE OF HER OFFICE IN THE MURDER OF DAVID KOSCHMAN CASE
By TIM NOVAK AND CHRIS FUSCO Staff Reporters May 5, 2011 12:01AM
Updated: March 26, 2012 9:50AM
After calling for an investigation of how the Chicago Police Department handled David Koschman’s homicide, Cook County State’s Attorney Anita Alvarez now is blocking county Inspector General Patrick Blanchard from investigating how her office handled the case involving Richard J. “R.J.” Vanecko, a nephew of Mayor Daley and William Daley, President Obama’s chief of staff.
Blanchard sought to investigate the state’s attorney’s office after reports in the Chicago Sun-Times revealed that the prosecutor’s office has been unable to find any paperwork on the 7-year-old case — even though a top prosecutor determined there wasn’t enough evidence to warrant filing criminal charges against Vanecko.
“When this came to light, I thought it would be appropriate for our office to open an inquiry,” Blanchard said. “But the state’s attorney’s office rejected our request to open an inquiry, which would have meant interviews and document requests.”
Asked why Alvarez didn’t cooperate with Blanchard, her press secretary, Sally Daly, cited protocol. “We have not received any official communication from the Cook County inspector general regarding any investigation or any official request for an investigation from that agency,” Daly said.
Blanchard — a lawyer who spent 15 years in the state’s attorney’s office before being appointed Cook County’s inspector general in 2008 — acknowledged he never put his request in writing.
But he said he had “several meetings” with top Alvarez staffers — including her chief of staff, Dan Kirk — and they told him he doesn’t have the legal authority to investigate the state’s attorney’s office. They told him that, even though Cook County taxpayers finance the state’s attorney’s office, the agency technically is a branch of the state government, so it’s outside his jurisdiction, Blanchard said.
