Judge Denies Ronald Kliner’s Motion for Immediate Release

On November 6th, Judge Joel Greenblatt denied Ron Kliner's motion for immediate release, pending the outcome of his motion to vacate his conviction.  The request for release was made due to the spread of Coronavirus in Illinois' prisons - and the threat it poses to at-risk prisoners such as Ronald Kliner. 

Ronald Kliner has spent more than 25 years behind bars, having been wrongfully convicted for the 1988 murder of Dana Rinaldi in Palatine, and has been waiting for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office to respond to his Motion to Vacate his sentence.

Ronald Kliner’s attorney, Tara Thompson, acknowledged that asking for her client’s release was an extraordinary request - though as evidenced by a pandemic that has take almost a quarter of a million lives - these are far from ordinary times.

As Ronald Kliner's attorney stated in court, "Mr. Kliner should not die in prison for something he didn't do."

Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Carol Rogala argued that Ronald has the option to petition the governor- which Ronald has already done with no success.

Not only did the judge agree with the state in denying Ron’s release, but he granted their request for a two month delay in giving - not a response - but an advisement as to when they can respond to the motion to vacate the conviction.

The judge, who is completely new to this case, also indicated that based on the amount of information involved, it will take him some time to go through it once the state is done with its response.

What this means is that no only is justice for Ron again delayed, but he must wait with the threat of contracting Covid hanging over his head.

The next court date was set for January 8th and will be at 1:30om, in courtroom 110.

Unless the court restores in person hearings it will be on Zoom.

While the previous court date had a last minute room change, Judge Greenblatt stated that all future hearings will be in the same Courtroom and at the same time.

Information for next court date:

Time/Date: 1:30pm - Friday January 8, 2021
Room: 110
Meeting ID: 968 2376 9037
Password: 836410 

Sincerely

Friends of Ronald Kliner