William Raines: Chicago judge caught on hot mic making sexist remarks about Bill Cosby's lawyer
Cook County Circuit Court Judge William Raines was recently caught making fun of high-profile civil rights attorney Jennifer Bonjean on a live stream. Besides inappropriate comments on Bonjean's appearance, Judge Raines was also seen calling Bonjean's performance in court as 'nuts' and 'insane'.
'Did you see her going nuts?! Glasses off, fingers through her hair, the phone's going all over the place, it's insane,' the judge said, mocking Bonjean's appearance in court while she was defending a client. Two state prosecutors also chimed in, agreeing with Raines, while making their own inappropriate comments without realizing that their mics were on the whole time. "That was so entertaining," Assistant State Attorney Susie Bucaro said. 'It was entertaining for me,' the judge chimed back, later saying: "Can you imagine waking up next to her every day? Oh my God." The incident occurred on a live stream of the courtroom.
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Caught on live stream
From what viewers saw on the live stream, the demeaning remarks about Bonjean's appearance continued for quite a while. Bucaro and Assistant State Attorney Anna Sedelmaier were heard laughing at Raines's insults after which Bucaro was heard saying, "there would be a number of things wrong in my life if I was waking up next to her every day."
"I couldn't get a visual on that if you paid me," Raines told Bucaro in exchange. The comments did not stop here. Raines and Bucaro then proceeded to mock one of Bonjean's assistants, calling him a "13-year-old boy dressed up in a suit," referring to him as Bonjean's "man-child." It was only minutes later that Raines realised that the courtroom, along with him and his banter-mates were still live and they were all audible.
Who is Jennifer Bonjean?
Jennifer Bonjean, during the live stream, was defending Roosevelt Myles, 57, who she claimed was framed by police and wrongfully convicted of murder in 1996. The lawyer who had earlier defended Bill Cosby in court filed a complaint regarding the incident to the Judicial Inquiry Board. The video of the live stream has been taken down but a copy of it has been officially preserved as per Criminal Division Acting Presiding Judge Erica Reddick's orders to aid the Judicial Inquiry Board's investigation.
Bonjean has also slammed Raines in an interview to WGN, stating that he is not fit to do the job he does. "He should not be presiding over things as important as criminal court proceedings where people's lives hang in the balance," Bonjean told WGN. Referring to the inappropriate comments directed at her, a statement released about the incident said that such behavior was "unacceptable and runs counter to the values of this administration. Their actions reflect poorly on the work of our office and the entire criminal justice system."