EVIDENCE VANISHES AS COURT HAS LUNCH

Cocaine Case Will Be Retried

In a case that may give the phrase "out to lunch" new meaning at the Lake
County Courthouse, all the evidence in a drug trial disappeared this week
when everyone was dismissed to get a bite to eat.

Lake County Circuit Judge Mary S. Schostok dismissed a jury for lunch
during the trial in Waukegan, and about 4.5 grams of cocaine and all the
court paperwork were missing when Schostok returned to the courtroom after
the recess.

"Obviously, that the drugs are missing is of quite some concern," Daniel B.
Shanes, chief of the state's attorney's drug prosecution division, said
Thursday. "But the fact that this was evidence that disappeared from a
courtroom is what really makes this a very serious thing."

Now prosecutors must start all over with a new trial for the defendant,
Ernest E. Gwinn, 32, of the 1700 block of McAree Road, Waukegan.

Gwinn was on trial on a felony charge of possession of a controlled
substance with intent to deliver. If convicted, he could face up to 40
years in prison.

The state's attorney's office is investigating the disappearance, and
people at the agency responsible for courtroom security--the Lake County
sheriff's office--are awaiting the outcome.

"Thank God we haven't had too many things like this," said sheriff's
spokesman Gary Govekar. "I don't want to place blame on anyone, and I'm
sure the state's attorney's office doesn't want to, either."

Everyone involved in the ill-fated trial is a potential witness in the case
of the missing evidence--including the jurors, Shanes said. This means a
new jury will be selected, a new prosecutor assigned, and a different
sheriff's deputy will be in charge of security for the courtroom, Shanes said.

Gwinn's trial began routinely Tuesday morning when a jury was sworn in, but
by afternoon all of the court paperwork and evidence against Gwinn had
disappeared from the courtroom. The property included some of Gwinn's
clothing, a driver's license and the cocaine police allege Gwinn had when
the Metropolitan Enforcement Group arrested him on March 14 in Waukegan.

According to Shanes, prosecutors last saw the evidence shortly after the
judge released the jurors for lunch while the defense attorneys prepared
motions for the court.

Prosecutors routinely leave evidence and paperwork in a courtroom during
recesses, Circuit Court Chief Judge Jane D. Waller said.

"If the door is unlocked, we expect that there is a deputy sheriff in the
courtroom," Waller said.

Govekar referred all questions to Louis A. Archbold Jr., the investigator
with the state's attorney's office who is looking into the matter. Archbold
said he could not discuss details of his investigation because its findings
will be forwarded to a grand jury.

Meanwhile, Gwinn's new trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 19.

Shanes said the missing evidence and paperwork won't substantially affect
the case against Gwinn.

"We, of course, have copies of everything," Shanes said. "And we have
documented all of the evidence."