Politics and Money
and the Hamm/Lagrone Trials
I was angry to the point of action when Amanda Hamm (my friend) and Maurice Lagrone were first indicted in December 2003. The prosecution announced their intention to pursue the death penalty and I did not understand why.
They decided to pursue the death penalty, then changed their minds after only a month and decided not to. But, they changed their minds again.. just after very public concerns were raised about the cost of the trial. In Illinois, murder trials (life in prison) are paid for by the county and capital cases are paid for by the Capital Litigation Trust Fund.
I first began documenting what I saw as a film project, the work has become a blog and is now propelling me into activism. I testified for the defense at Amanda's trial. I had a video interview of the prosecution's witnesses contradicting her testimony. Most recently I attended the Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee public form and gave testimony on why I believe the Hamm and Lagrone trials were death penalty trials (for the better part of the pre-trial activity) in order to have the State of Illinois pay for the trials through the Capital Litigation Trust Fund. Below is the detail of evidence to support this assertion:
September 2, 2003- CNN.com- Amanda Hamm and then-boyfriend Maurice LaGrone Jr. were at Lake Clinton when her car sank off a boat ramp and her three children drowned.
December 9, 2003- Amanda was arrested in Bloomington, IL and Maurice was arrested in St. Louis, MO.
December 10, 2003- Bloomington Pantagraph- Amanda and Maurice were arraigned on 9 counts of murder (each) and bail was set at five million dollars each. Prosecutors announce their intent to seek the death penalty.
December 11, 2003- Grand Jury convenes and issues indictment.
December 13, 2003- Bloomington Pantagraph- 2 Central Illinois lawmakers called Friday for a repeal of the moratorium on the death penalty in connection with the Sept. 2 drowning deaths of 3 DeWitt County children. In a letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, state Rep. Bill Mitchell and state Sen. Bill Brady said they believe the children's mother, Amanda Hamm, and her former boyfriend, Maurice Lagrone Jr., should receive the ultimate punishment if convicted of murder. "I represent the people of Clinton who are mourning the tragic murder of 3 young children," said Mitchell, R-Forsyth. "At the present time, if those accused of this monstrous crime are found to be guilty, the most severe punishment they could receive is life in prison."
December 13, 2003- Ann Powers (Amanda Hamm’s mother and grandmother of the three deceased children) declares publicly that she does not want her daughter executed.
January 23, 2004- Associated Press "In both cases there is an intention to decline to seek the death penalty," said prosecutor Roger Simpson. He declined to discuss the reason for his decision, but a news release issued Monday by DeWitt County Sheriff Roger Massey indicated that last year's emptying of Death Row by former Gov. George Ryan may have played a role in the decision.
"Although this case certainly qualifies for the death penalty, recent trends in Illinois and the particular facts of this case would seem to indicate that imposition and execution of that sentence would be a remote possibility," the news release said. The decision was reached by prosecutors, investigators and relatives of the children, the news release said.
The decision also throws the appointments of Hamm's and Lagrone's attorneys into question. Circuit Judge Stephen Peters appointed two attorneys for each because of the death penalty possibility, with their fees and expenses paid by the state's Capital Litigation Fund.Now, Justice (Lagrone’s attorney) said, DeWitt County will have to bear the costs and the judge might decide that capital litigation attorneys are no longer necessary.
March 18, 2004- Dewitt County Board Minutes- County board discusses trial fees and intent to scrutinize bills
March 19, 2004- Dewitt County board member, Chris Riddle is quoted in the Decatur Herald saying "we can't afford to pay for this stupid trial."
April 5, 2004- County given April 30th deadline to pay legal defense bills by Judge, Stephen Peters.
April 15, 2004- Mitchell introduces legislation aimed at relieving the county of financial burden of the trial and Skelton issues statement that Hamm can’t get a fair trial in Dewitt county (news reports April 16)
April 17, 2004- Prosecution enters intent to pursue death penalty again.
April 22, 2004- County board discusses money transfers and move to pay attorney bills
February 8, 2005- Local news media petitions to open hearings and unseal documents. To this point most of the pre-trial proceedings have been closed.
February, 2005 – Judge Peters (Dewitt County) decision to ban media from pretrial hearings overturned by the Illinois Supreme Appeals Court. Peters’ response is to delay all pretrial decisions until jury is selected.
April 12, , 2006- AP - A man convicted of killing his former girlfriend’s three children by letting them drown as their car rolled into a lake was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
A judge issued the sentence immediately after the jury decided to find Maurice LaGrone Jr. ineligible for the death sentence sought by prosecutors. Two jurors later said prosecutors failed to prove that LaGrone had intended the children to die.
May 5, 2006- Court TV- Prosecutors said Thursday they won't seek the death penalty for a woman charged with murder in the deaths of her three children, who drowned when their car rolled into a lake. Amanda Hamm is scheduled to stand trial later this year. Her former boyfriend and co-defendant in the case, Maurice LaGrone Jr., was convicted last month. After LaGrone was found to be ineligible for the death sentence — jurors said prosecutors failed to prove that LaGrone had intended for the children to die — prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty for Hamm.
February 1, 2007- Bloomington Pantagraph- Amanda Hamm convicted of Child Endangerment and sentenced to ten years.
December, 2006- Bloomington Pantagraph- The cost of the Hamm and LaGrone trials drew criticism from the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. “It is now crystal clear that neither case against Maurice LaGrone Jr. or Amanda Hamm warranted the death penalty. It is also clear that taxpayer dollars were squandered in seeking the death penalty in what were not capital cases."
January 11, 2007- Bloomington Pantagraph- Another death penalty trial is pending in Dewitt County.
and the Hamm/Lagrone Trials
I was angry to the point of action when Amanda Hamm (my friend) and Maurice Lagrone were first indicted in December 2003. The prosecution announced their intention to pursue the death penalty and I did not understand why.
They decided to pursue the death penalty, then changed their minds after only a month and decided not to. But, they changed their minds again.. just after very public concerns were raised about the cost of the trial. In Illinois, murder trials (life in prison) are paid for by the county and capital cases are paid for by the Capital Litigation Trust Fund.
I first began documenting what I saw as a film project, the work has become a blog and is now propelling me into activism. I testified for the defense at Amanda's trial. I had a video interview of the prosecution's witnesses contradicting her testimony. Most recently I attended the Capital Punishment Reform Study Committee public form and gave testimony on why I believe the Hamm and Lagrone trials were death penalty trials (for the better part of the pre-trial activity) in order to have the State of Illinois pay for the trials through the Capital Litigation Trust Fund. Below is the detail of evidence to support this assertion:
September 2, 2003- CNN.com- Amanda Hamm and then-boyfriend Maurice LaGrone Jr. were at Lake Clinton when her car sank off a boat ramp and her three children drowned.
December 9, 2003- Amanda was arrested in Bloomington, IL and Maurice was arrested in St. Louis, MO.
December 10, 2003- Bloomington Pantagraph- Amanda and Maurice were arraigned on 9 counts of murder (each) and bail was set at five million dollars each. Prosecutors announce their intent to seek the death penalty.
December 11, 2003- Grand Jury convenes and issues indictment.
December 13, 2003- Bloomington Pantagraph- 2 Central Illinois lawmakers called Friday for a repeal of the moratorium on the death penalty in connection with the Sept. 2 drowning deaths of 3 DeWitt County children. In a letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich, state Rep. Bill Mitchell and state Sen. Bill Brady said they believe the children's mother, Amanda Hamm, and her former boyfriend, Maurice Lagrone Jr., should receive the ultimate punishment if convicted of murder. "I represent the people of Clinton who are mourning the tragic murder of 3 young children," said Mitchell, R-Forsyth. "At the present time, if those accused of this monstrous crime are found to be guilty, the most severe punishment they could receive is life in prison."
December 13, 2003- Ann Powers (Amanda Hamm’s mother and grandmother of the three deceased children) declares publicly that she does not want her daughter executed.
January 23, 2004- Associated Press "In both cases there is an intention to decline to seek the death penalty," said prosecutor Roger Simpson. He declined to discuss the reason for his decision, but a news release issued Monday by DeWitt County Sheriff Roger Massey indicated that last year's emptying of Death Row by former Gov. George Ryan may have played a role in the decision.
"Although this case certainly qualifies for the death penalty, recent trends in Illinois and the particular facts of this case would seem to indicate that imposition and execution of that sentence would be a remote possibility," the news release said. The decision was reached by prosecutors, investigators and relatives of the children, the news release said.
The decision also throws the appointments of Hamm's and Lagrone's attorneys into question. Circuit Judge Stephen Peters appointed two attorneys for each because of the death penalty possibility, with their fees and expenses paid by the state's Capital Litigation Fund.Now, Justice (Lagrone’s attorney) said, DeWitt County will have to bear the costs and the judge might decide that capital litigation attorneys are no longer necessary.
March 18, 2004- Dewitt County Board Minutes- County board discusses trial fees and intent to scrutinize bills
March 19, 2004- Dewitt County board member, Chris Riddle is quoted in the Decatur Herald saying "we can't afford to pay for this stupid trial."
April 5, 2004- County given April 30th deadline to pay legal defense bills by Judge, Stephen Peters.
April 15, 2004- Mitchell introduces legislation aimed at relieving the county of financial burden of the trial and Skelton issues statement that Hamm can’t get a fair trial in Dewitt county (news reports April 16)
April 17, 2004- Prosecution enters intent to pursue death penalty again.
April 22, 2004- County board discusses money transfers and move to pay attorney bills
February 8, 2005- Local news media petitions to open hearings and unseal documents. To this point most of the pre-trial proceedings have been closed.
February, 2005 – Judge Peters (Dewitt County) decision to ban media from pretrial hearings overturned by the Illinois Supreme Appeals Court. Peters’ response is to delay all pretrial decisions until jury is selected.
April 12, , 2006- AP - A man convicted of killing his former girlfriend’s three children by letting them drown as their car rolled into a lake was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison.
A judge issued the sentence immediately after the jury decided to find Maurice LaGrone Jr. ineligible for the death sentence sought by prosecutors. Two jurors later said prosecutors failed to prove that LaGrone had intended the children to die.
May 5, 2006- Court TV- Prosecutors said Thursday they won't seek the death penalty for a woman charged with murder in the deaths of her three children, who drowned when their car rolled into a lake. Amanda Hamm is scheduled to stand trial later this year. Her former boyfriend and co-defendant in the case, Maurice LaGrone Jr., was convicted last month. After LaGrone was found to be ineligible for the death sentence — jurors said prosecutors failed to prove that LaGrone had intended for the children to die — prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty for Hamm.
February 1, 2007- Bloomington Pantagraph- Amanda Hamm convicted of Child Endangerment and sentenced to ten years.
December, 2006- Bloomington Pantagraph- The cost of the Hamm and LaGrone trials drew criticism from the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. “It is now crystal clear that neither case against Maurice LaGrone Jr. or Amanda Hamm warranted the death penalty. It is also clear that taxpayer dollars were squandered in seeking the death penalty in what were not capital cases."
January 11, 2007- Bloomington Pantagraph- Another death penalty trial is pending in Dewitt County.
