Attorney Joe Bante recently won an appeal in front of the Illinois Supreme Court. In November 2016, Judge Scott Drazewski ruled that motions containing potentially sensitive information about Kirk Zimmerman should be sealed in his criminal defense case.
Zimmerman, represented by John Rogers of Rogers Sevastianos and Bante, LLP, filed an appeal of a 4th District Appellate Court ruling that involved a legal challenge by media outlets for access to two motions that had been sealed.
While an appellate court decision was pending on whether Drazewski erred, Bante stepped in to argue for Zimmerman in Rogers’ stead. He stated that the barred statements had “salacious and inflammable” material. He successfully argued that disclosure of the information could expose the general public and potential jurors to negative, irrelevant information about the defendant’s character which could further taint a jury pool.
In response, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled on October 18th., 2018 that the information sealed may remain closed until a McLean County judge rules otherwise.
The firm congratulates Joe Bante on his success!