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Thomas Nowinski (Cook County Democratic Party).
A judge in Illinois has been effectively self-demoted after his decisions in two cases resulted in the death of a child and a woman.
Cook County Circuit Judge Thomas E. Nowinski, who sits in the Domestic Violence Division, was elected to the bench in 2022.
This week, he made the request to be transferred out of that division himself, another judge announced on Thursday.
Now, he will no longer hear domestic violence cases. Instead, Nowinski will hear misdemeanor and traffic cases when he is transferred to the Third Municipal District, Municipal Department. That transfer will become effective on Jan. 21.
“The transfer is being made at the request of Judge Nowinski and his Presiding Judge, Judith Rice, who oversees the Domestic Violence Division,” Cook County Chief Judge Timothy C. Evans said in a lengthy press release.
In the announcement, the change in position and duties is directly attributed to the death of Lacramioara Beldie, 54.
On Oct. 9, 2024, Constantin Beldie, 57, was charged with choking his wife and attempting to kidnap her.
Ultimately, however, the husband was released on GPS monitoring.
In November, the day after a court appearance, Constantin Beldie stabbed his wife to death. Then, one block away, in a park, in a vehicle, he killed himself.
“Our office has gathered transcripts and court records from the civil and criminal proceedings against the accused,” the Cook County courts press release reads. “The decision by the Court not to detain Beldie on Oct. 9 followed an incomplete presentation by the State’s Attorney and a presentation by the defense attorney to which the state did not object, that Beldie had no prior history of domestic violence, nor of violating the terms of any civil no contact order.”
The chief judge also said “an apparent failure” by a GPS technician did not catch a violation on Oct. 10, when Constantin Beldie entered “an exclusion zone.” That technician “was temporarily suspended without pay pending completion of the review and resigned during the disciplinary process,” the chief judge added.
On March 15, 2024, Crosetti Brand, 37, allegedly stabbed and killed his ex-girlfriend’s 11-year-old son, Jayden Perkins, according to the Chicago Police Department. The slain boy’s mother, who was pregnant at the time, was also attacked but survived. The boy died trying to protect his mom, police allege.
That horrific incident occurred weeks after Nowinski denied a protective order requested by the woman, according to CBS News. The judge noted that Brand was incarcerated when the request was made. The killing occurred the day after he was released from prison.
“This tragedy has also revealed the need for increased collaboration to improve protection for survivors of domestic violence,” Evans said.
Some say the transfer is not enough.
Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza has called for Nowinski’s resignation in comments reported by Chicago-based ABC affiliate WLS.
“Two dead people who went before a judge were denied help,” Mendoza said. “The offenders, in fact, got more help from that judge and from the system overall, than the victims did.”