Joliet reckless homicide case will have no special prosecutor

A judge rejected a defense motion to have a special prosecutor handle the case of a Will County Public Defender’s Office investigator charged with a Joliet reckless homicide.

On Thursday, Kankakee County Judge William Dickenson denied a motion from Daniel Walsh, attorney for Maria Aiello, 46, of Joliet to have a special prosecutor on the case.

Since Aug. 24, Aiello has been in jail on charges reckless homicide and aggravated driving under the influence in connection with a fiery crash on March 15, that led to the death of Ednalice Pagan-Romney, 50, of Aurora.

Walsh cited media publicity about the case as a reason to appoint a special prosecutor to avoid any perception of conflict of interest in the case.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Chris Koch objected and he largely argued there was no allegation of unfair prosecution or that Aiello committed the alleged offenses in her official capacity as a county employee.

Dickenson said he’s seen nothing to show any specific facts or evidence of a conflict of interest on part of the state’s attorney’s office.

At the outset of Thursday’s hearing, Walsh said Aiello has not resigned from the public’s defender’s office. He said her employment with the office has been referenced in numerous articles from various publications.

Walsh suggested that given the publicity on the case, a negotiated plea deal from the state’s attorney’s office could look like Aiello was given a “sweetheart deal.”

Walsh’s Oct. 19 motion requesting a special prosecutor said the “entire judiciary of the 12th Judicial Circuit recused themselves” because of Aiello’s employment. Dickenson has presided over the case as the out-of-county judge since September.

Koch said there’s been no allegation that the state’s attorney’s office has an interest in the case as private individuals and he said the incident that led to Aiello’s arrest occurred outside of her work.

“We’re here to fairly prosecute this defendant,” Koch said.

Aiello continues to stay jailed on a a $500,000 bond set by Will County Judge Art Smigielski, who signed the warrant for her arrest on May 27, following an investigation of the deadly crash by the Joliet Police Department.

Dickenson denied a motion from Walsh to lower Aiello’s bond Sept. 9.

Walsh’s motion asked for a $25,000 bond and for his client to be placed on electronic monitoring.

The charges against Aiello were filed May 31, but she was not arrested then because she had been receiving extensive medical treatment, English said.