Charleston, IL. (ECWd) –
Brady Allen, former Assistant State’s Attorney in Coles County, has provided the following Press Release in response to the recent filing in a DUI case alleging prosecutorial misconduct.
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PRESS RELEASE:
August 23, 2020
In response to the allegations filed by Todd Reardon, on behalf of defendant, Kara Chumbley, I deny all allegations of prosecutorial misconduct. It is true that I and Ms. Chumbley had a relationship outside of court based entirely over social media. At no point did we ever meet in person. The friendship originated back in the fall of 2019, which began when we were matched on the dating app, Tinder. Upon learning that Ms. Chumbley was a defendant in Coles County, I informed her that we could not pursue a dating relationship while I was the prosecutor assigned to her case. Several months later, I was promoted to misdemeanor attorney and Ms. Chumbley’s case was assigned to the new traffic prosecutor. Only at that time did Ms. Chumbley and I entertain the idea of a dating relationship. However, I made it very clear that I still could not discuss her case in any fashion; nor would she receive any benefit or detriment from my position in the office. Ms. Chumbley became frustrated by my unwillingness to help her with her case. Ms. Chumbley provided a conversation in which she only tendered my comments and deleted her own to conceal the true context of the conversation. Those texts gave the appearance of impropriety.
I was contacted by Brianna Lee, a mutual friend. Brianna Lee informed me that Ms. Chumbley did this at the direction of her counsel, Todd Reardon. Brianna Lee further informed me that Todd Reardon promised Ms. Chumbley her DUI cases would be dismissed and she would receive a substantial sum of money from Coles County if she agreed to say these specific things and to sign an affidavit that had been prepared for her by Todd Reardon. Brianna Lee also informed me that Todd Reardon instructed Ms. Chumbley to extend a similar offer to her (Ms. Lee) if she was willing to publicly misrepresent our relationship.
While the allegations against me remain untrue and appear to me to be nothing more than a political stunt deliberately timed just before the election, I acknowledge the appearance of impropriety. Therefore, I have tendered my resignation to State’s Attorney, Jesse Danley.
I now recognize the ethical concerns of attempting to form any kind of a relationship with a defendant, even one that was originally based in what I believed to be friendship, and I regret my decision. I also regret the appearance of impropriety this has cast on the Office of the State’s Attorney. Perhaps, most importantly, I want to stress that Mr. Danley had no knowledge of this error in judgment and remains one of the most upstanding and law-abiding attorneys I’ve ever had the good fortune to know. I want to thank former State’s Attorney, Brian Bower, for placing trust in me and hiring me as a prosecutor. I want to thank all of the honorable judges and attorneys who I’ve had the privilege to work with in my time with Coles County and regret that I must part ways, but I will not allow the name of this office that I hold in such high regard to be tainted by this purely political stunt.
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Here it is in its entirety, to include the messages mentioned in the text above:
Press Release
12 Comments
SC
Posted at 15:45h, 25 August” Coles County State’s Attorney Jesse Danley has asked Illinois State Police to investigate misconduct claims against an attorney who worked in his office.”
https://jg-tc.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/coles-county-states-attorney-asks-state-police-to-investigation-attorney-misconduct-claim/article_7764ccff-2fcc-55bd-80e9-3c9083b40ca9.html
EP
Posted at 13:36h, 25 AugustSabotage? Attack against an officer of the court? Wouldn’t be the first time. A resignation would prevent any question with regard to later cases (was a compromised official, was doing favors) so maybe not all that suspicious.
SC
Posted at 11:53h, 25 AugustMotion To Disqualify The Coles County State’s Attorney’s Office filed.
SC
Posted at 10:49h, 25 AugustThere is a hearing on this case a 2:00 this afternoon and the State’s Attorney has been served with a subpoena regarding it.
PK
Posted at 21:04h, 24 AugustThe bit about having been promoted bragged an otherwise decent response.
SC
Posted at 17:02h, 24 August“At no point did we ever meet in person.” Brady Allen
According to Judici.com under 2019DT76, they were both present in court to discuss her case at least 5 times with the earliest time being in July of 2019. If they were paired on Tender in the Fall, I find it strange that he didn’t realize they had met in July and then again in September.
Coles County Taxpayer
Posted at 16:11h, 24 AugustHe can’t be allowed to just resign. He is a predatory criminal that has committed felonies and should be locked up with the people he has sentenced. Justice anyone?
Coles County Taxpayer
Posted at 16:17h, 24 AugustExcuse me… he should be locked up with the people he prosecuted or helped to prosecute.
John Q. Public
Posted at 15:25h, 24 AugustSC – I BELIEVE he would have to resign because (1) he had a relationship with a defendant that is being prosecuted by the State’s Attorney’s Office in which he works. It doesn’t matter that the case was transferred to another division, not under his control, and (2) it can be alleged by his supervisor, the State’s Attorney, that his conduct brought disrepute to the State’s Attorney’s Office. I don’t know with certainty, but perhaps there could be violations of his oath and/or admin rules of the IL Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission (ARDC), the regulatory body for licensed attornies in IL.
SC
Posted at 17:08h, 24 AugustI’m sure that at this point, the ARDC has to look into it.
SC
Posted at 15:00h, 24 AugustIf it’s untrue and just a political stunt before the election, why resign?
John Q. Public
Posted at 14:55h, 24 AugustWell, while one is free to question the veracity of Mr. Allan’s statement, one must also question the veracity of Ms. Chumbley’s statement, especially in light of the additional information provided in Mr. Allan’s response re Ms. Lee. As he stated, he made a huge mistake in having ANY relationship with a defendant. Now that Mr. Allan has resigned, we may never know the facts or maybe we will if it is still going to be investigated.
I will say one thing; while it could have been self-serving in some manner (or maybe he was simply getting his side out there) at least he gave all of us the favor of putting it out there. I give him points for doing that. There have been previous attorneys, private and public, in the same boat, with allegations of improper sexual solicitation of client or defendant. One of them comes immediately to mind, and that individual, snake in the grass that he is, was alleged to have done it for a long time before he got caught, and when he did, tried to slither out of it at the cost of humiliation to his wife and family.