DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin and Hinsdale Chief of Police Brian King, on Thursday, said a Chicago man, on parole, was released from pretrial custody after being charged with one count of armed violence and one count of burglary, according to a news release.
Following an investigation into the break in of Kelsey Resale Boutique, on May 24, police said they found blood evidence consistent with the DNA profile of Terry Johnson, 30, the release said.
Police allege Johnson, alongside six accomplices, broke into the store using a sledgehammer and stole $68,000 worth of merchandise.
“The fact that Mr. Johnson, who is currently on parole and now accused of a forcible felony, will be out on the streets pending his trial illustrates a deficiency in the new law,” Berlin said in the news release. “I have been saying all along that after hearing the facts and circumstances of a case, a judge, not the legislature, is in the best position to decide if pretrial release for a defendant is appropriate.”
Berlin was one of three state’s attorneys in Illinois who spoke with state legislatures about amendments to the Pretrial Fairness Act provision to the SAFE-T Act, which effectively eliminated cash bail in Illinois Monday.
The amended provision gave judges greater discretion when deciding to detain suspects under a “dangerousness standard,” Berlin said in an August interview with the Pioneer Press. According to Berlin, under the original law judicial discretion was limited to crimes in which the defendant presented a potential danger to the victim(s), but was expanded to crimes in which the dependent presented a danger to the victim(s) or community, with a notable exception for burglary.
“Burglary, we fought hard on that,” Berlin said. “There was a lot of discussion over it, and ultimately the General Assembly did not include that [in the SAFE-T Act].”
Johnson, on parole for armed robbery and aggravated battery in Cook County, was taken into custody Sept. 20, and has been fitted with a GPS electronic monitoring device and is not allowed within 1,000 feet of Kelsey Resale Boutique.
“With Mr. Johnson’s case as a glaring example of what I fear will be many defendants unduly released pretrial, I urge the General Assembly to amend the law and allow judges to use their discretion in every case similar to New Jersey’s pretrial release law,” Berlin said in the release.
In 2017, New Jersey, ended cash bail in nearly all cases with judges given greater discretion over considering community safety when deciding to release defendants before trial dates.
“This was an audacious burglary with seven offenders,” King said in the release. “We will continue working to ensure that everyone that was responsible is ultimately charged.”
Members of the public are reminded that this complaint contains only charges and is not proof of the defendant’s guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial in which it is the government’s burden to prove his or her guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, the news release said.