Chicago Litigators Successfully Prosecute Murder-for-Hire Plot

Chicago partner Andrew Porter, along with associates Carrie DeLange and Taylor Mullaney, served as special prosecutors for a matter involving a plot to murder against an Illinois judge and prosecutor. 

In People v. Jimmie Smith, the team represented the state in its case against Jimmie Smith, a convicted rapist who had concocted a plot with another inmate to murder Cook County Circuit Court Judge James Linn and Assistant State’s Attorney Michelle Papa prior to his trial for kidnapping and rape in 2014. The jury found the defendant guilty on two counts of solicitation of murder and two counts of solicitation of murder-for-hire.

It was a true team effort. Taylor started the trial with an excellent opening statement and handled two direct examinations of the prosecution’s witnesses; Carrie did two directs, a key cross-examination, and a masterful closing argument; and Andrew cross-examined the defendant and handled the rebuttal argument.

The case is covered in the Chicago Sun-Times article, “Convicted rapist found guilty in murder-for-hire plot targeting judge, prosecutor.”