Military Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Vincent Michael Gaughan
Born 1942
Nationality American
Citizenship American
Education DePaul University College of Law
Alma mater Bachelor of Engineering, University of Illinois
Occupation Judge

Vincent Michael Gaughan is a Cook County Circuit Court Judge in Cook County, Illinois[1][2] who presided in the historic trial at the Leighton Criminal Courthouse held in Chicago, Illinois of Jason Van Dyke, the Chicago Police officer who killed Laquan McDonald.[3]

Early years[]

Gaughan's parents were Irish immigrants[4] who attended the St. Vincent de Paul Church, their local parish church. He was named "Vincent".[2] Their family home was in Lincoln Park.[4]

Education[]

In 1964, he earned his Bachelor of Engineering (B.Eng.) at the University of Illinois.[4] He earned his law degree at DePaul University College of Law and was admitted to the Illinois bar in September 1972.[4]

Career[]

Gaughan joined the army after university and graduated from the Artillery Officer Candidate School in Fort Sill, Oklahoma where he was "commissioned as a second lieutenant.[4] He was awarded the Bronze Star Medal for valor for his service in the Vietnam war (-1968).[4] He worked in the Cook County public defender's office from 1973 until 1991.[4] He started out as a courtroom lawyer.[4] Later he was a "felony trial lawyer supervisor". In 1991, he was appointed to the Cook County, Illinois bench. He was elected as judge in 1992.[2][4]

In May and June 2008, he presided over the jury trial of the American singer and record producer, R. Kelly,[5][6] in which Kelly was acquitted on all counts of child pornography charges.[4] The men found guilty in the Brown's Chicken massacre case in 2007 and 2009, were convicted in Gaughan's courtroom.[4]

Judge Gaughan presided in the historic trial of Jason Van Dyke, the police officer who killed the 17-year-old African American Laquan McDonald on October 20, 2014, in Chicago, Illinois.[3][7] On June 6, 2016 Judge Gaughan agreed to name a special prosecutor for this case.[8] On October 5, 2018, Van Dyke was found guilty of second degree murder.[9] Judge Gaughan set the sentencing hearing date for January 18, 2019 and "lifted a decorum order, which will allow the Chicago Police Board to move ahead with disciplinary action against Van Dyke."[10] The New York Times described it as the case that changed Chicago.[1][11] A revealing February 10, 2015 article in Slate entitled "Sixteen Shots" by an independent Chicago-based journalist, placed the Chicago Police Department under public scrutiny.[12][Notes 1] In 2015, a year after McDonald's death, Judge Gaughan forced the City of Chicago to release police dashboard-camera video showing the accused shooting the victim.[1] On December 13, 2017, Judge Gaughan, "quashed a subpoena seeking the reporter Jamie Kalven's testimony, ending a battle over Mr. Kalven’s sources" saying that "the subpoena by the defense lacked specifics and sought 'irrelevant and privileged material'".[1]

An article in the Chicago Tribune, described the case as "another high-profile trial" for Judge M. Gaughan, an "idiosyncratic judge who set the standard for how Cook County handles headline-making cases" in his "ornate courtroom" with a "distant view of Chicago's skyline.[2] According to The New York Times, Judge Gaughan "is viewed as a mercurial jurist."[11] Attorney Steven Greenberg said that "If you’re Jason Van Dyke, I don’t think you can ask for a better judge to hear this case. Judge Gaughan is unique and he’s certainly opinionated, but he will go out of his way to make sure everyone gets a fair hearing."[2]

Personal life[]

When Vincent Gaughan returned from Vietnam, he lived with his parents in Lincoln Park.[4] In April 1970, then 28-year-old Gaughan, a law student and war hero, who suffered from anxiety after the war, faced charges including aggravated assault.[4]

Gaughan has been active in the Illinois branch of the American Legion since the 1990s when he served as its commander.[4]

Notes[]

  1. According to Julie Bosman's New York Times article, the key evidence in the case was a controversial police dashboard-camera video showing the accused shooting the victim, that was not presented as evidence until an independent Chicago journalist, Jamie Kalven, revealed its existence. Kalven received a tip from a source in November 2014, a month after the murder took place, which led "Kalven to a civilian who had seen the entire episode". Two months later Kalven read the autopsy report saying that McDonald had been shot 16 times.

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Bosman, Julie (November 26, 2018). "Journalist Who Told Laquan McDonald’s Story Faces Fight Over Sources". https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/26/us/chicago-police-shooting-journalist-laquan-mcdonald.html. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 St. Clair, Stacy (August 24, 2018). "Vincent Gaughan: The Van Dyke judge known for his smarts, sharp tongue and secretive style". https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/ct-met-judge-vincent-gaughan-20180824-story.html. 
  3. 3.0 3.1 Siegel, Zachary (January 2, 2019). "I was arrested during the Laquan McDonald murder trial. Here’s what I learned". Columbia Journalism Review. https://www.cjr.org/first_person/zachary-siegel-laquan-mcdonald-murder-trial.php. 
  4. 4.00 4.01 4.02 4.03 4.04 4.05 4.06 4.07 4.08 4.09 4.10 4.11 4.12 4.13 Bogira, Steve (January 18, 2016). "What the Van Dyke murder trial judge has in common with Laquan McDonald". https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/judge-vincent-gaughan-laquan-mcdonald-shooting/Content?oid=20876808. 
  5. Grossberg, Josh (June 13, 2008). "R. Kelly Found Not Guilty!". E! Online. http://uk.eonline.com/news/1956/r-kelly-found-not-guilty. Retrieved September 25, 2009. 
  6. Levin, Josh (June 13, 2008). "Long Live the Little Man Defense!". San Francisco: The Slate Group. http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/2008/06/long_live_the_little_man_defense.html. Retrieved January 9, 2019. 
  7. Davey, Monica; Smith, Mitch (November 24, 2015). "Chicago Braces After Video of Police Shooting Is Released". ISSN 0362-4331. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/25/us/chicago-officer-charged-in-death-of-black-teenager-official-says.html. 
  8. "Judge to appoint special prosecutor in Jason Van Dyke trial". ABC7 Chicago. June 2, 2016. https://abc7chicago.com/1368036/. 
  9. Sanchez, Ray (October 5, 2018). "Officer Jason Van Dyke found guilty of second-degree murder in Laquan McDonald killing". CNN. https://www.cnn.com/2018/10/05/us/jason-van-dyke-laquan-mcdonald-verdict/index.html. 
  10. Rivera, Mark; Hope, Leah (December 14, 2018). "Judge sets date for sentencing hearing for Jason Van Dyke". ABC7 Chicago. https://abc7chicago.com/4896840/. 
  11. 11.0 11.1 Smith, Mitch (September 17, 2018). "Why Chicago Is Closely Watching the Trial of the Officer Who Shot Laquan McDonald". https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/17/us/laquan-mcdonald-shooting-jason-van-dyke-trial.html. 
  12. Kalven, Jamie (February 10, 2015). "Sixteen Shots". Slate. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2015/02/laquan-mcdonald-shooting-a-recently-obtained-autopsy-report-on-the-dead-teen-complicates-the-chicago-police-departments-story.html. "Laquan McDonald shooting: A recently obtained autopsy report on the dead teen complicates the Chicago Police Department’s story." 
All or a portion of this article consists of text from Wikipedia, and is therefore Creative Commons Licensed under GFDL.
The original article can be found at Vincent Michael Gaughan and the edit history here.

Advertisement