ST. CHARLES TOWNSHIP – A hearing on criminal charges against Kane County Coroner Charles West was continued Thursday to June 29.
West, 68, was indicted last year on five felony charges of misconduct.
The charges stem from an incident in which someone on the coroner's staff was alleged to have improperly removed a TV from the home of a dead man and into the staff member's personal house.
West is in his third term as coroner.
The indictments centered on a state law that requires the coroner to properly dispose of valuable items obtained from the homes of those whose death the coroner is investigating.
West has pleaded not guilty.
If convicted, West would not only lose his job but also his pension.
In March, Associate Court Judge Jordan Gallagher ruled against a defense motion to dismiss the charges. West attorney Gary Johnson had argued that the 24-inch TV set removed from the home of Preston Pomykal of Carpentersville was not valuable enough to matter. Pomykal died in 2007.
In a separate action, West is also being sued by his longtime deputy coroner, Loren Carrera.
Carrera is alleging that the embattled coroner retaliated against her in violation of the state's Whistleblower's Act when she reported that he allowed employees to take a TV from a dead man's home.
Carrera's suit seeks more than $50,000 in damages each from West, his son, Eric West, and Lisa Gilbert, both deputy coroners.
Kane County State's Attorney Joe McMahon said he will seek an outside counsel to represent West in the civil action, citing too many conflicts for his office to represent West.
Because of the conflicts, appellate prosecutor Charles Colburn, was appointed to prosecute West's criminal case for Kane County.
