Bennie Starks has been waiting 26 years to clear his name. It became apparent today that he will have to wait a bit longer.
As one of his first official acts, newly elected Lake County State’s Attorney Mike Nerheim announced this week that he would drop a final battery charge against Starks – a move that would end a legal ordeal that saw Starks spend 20 years in prison for the rape and beating of a woman in Waukegan before he was eventually exonerated of the rape charge.
But an apparent technicality prevented a judge from formally dropping the last remaining charge against Starks Friday, as planned.
Judge Victoria A. Rossetti said she would need a “letter of mandate” from the Illinois Supreme Court that would formally return the case to Lake County.
The state Supreme Court was the last to rule in the case, when it declined last week to consider a request from Nerheim’s predecessor to overturn a lower court’s ruling requiring a hearing at which Starks’ lawyers could argue for a new trial on the battery charges.
Starks was released from prison in 2006 after DNA evidence raised doubts over his guilty in the 1986 attack. Former State’s Attorney Michael Waller eventually dropped the rape charge against Starks in May, but his office continued to seek to hold Starks accountable for beating the woman in the same attack.
Though Starks has called his legal odyssey “26 years of hell,” he took what appeared to be a brief setback toward final exoneration in stride.
“I’m still positive,” he said after today’s hearing. “I wanted it done now, but a couple of more weeks won’t hurt. I’m still positive.”
Starks conceded, however, that it has been difficult having the case hanging over his head for so many years.
“I got out in 2006 but I felt I was still incarcerated, still fighting. But my life goes on. The main thing is they are going to dismiss it,” he said.
Nerheim said he would file a motion seeking to have the case returned to Lake County immediately. He said he hopes to have the matter resolved before the new year.
“An hour after I was sworn in (Monday) I was briefed on (Starks’ case),” Nerheim said. “After reviewing various appellate rulings and evidence, I didn’t believe the interest of justice was served.”
Waller, who spent 22 years as state’s attorney – during which time the cases against Starks and three other violent crime suspects fell apart after DNA evidence pointed to their innocence -- could not immediately be reached for comment.
More waiting for man seeking to clear his name
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More waiting for man seeking to clear his name
