Dennis “Peg Leg” Sullivan, whose testimony before Chicago’s Board of Police and Fire Commissioners has led to a two-count perjury indictment, will be tried April 15 in a courtroom at The John Marshall Law School for lying about his whereabouts and activities Oct. 8, 1871, the night a fire in his neighborhood led to the Great Chicago Fire.
Prosecutors, using testimony Sullivan gave to the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners on Nov. 25, 1871, and his affidavit given to “Chicago Tribune” writer Michael McDermott on Oct. 15, 1871, along with other eyewitness accounts, will attempt to convince a select jury that Sullivan knew more about the fire than he admitted, and that he is guilty of the perjury charges. The defense team will deny the charges and call Sullivan as its star witness.
Actors from Chicago’s Looking Glass Theatre Company, performing as witnesses, will deliver the testimony of Sullivan, Mrs. Catherine O’Leary and others. The trial, open to the public, convenes at 2 p.m. at The John Marshall Law School in a re-created courtroom reminiscent of a Cook County courtroom of the late 1800s.
This trial re-creation will adhere as closely to period as possible, said program organizer Professor Ralph Ruebner, although he admits there will be one major change. “Women lawyers in 1872 where unheard of, but for this 1999 re-created trial we are having women as prosecutors and defense counsel,” he said.
Chicago legend has it that Mrs. O’Leary was responsible for a fire in her barn on DeKoven Street when one of her cows kicked over a lantern. However, research by historian and lawyer Richard Bales led to Mrs. O’Leary’s exoneration in 1997 by the Chicago City Council of any direct involvement in the fire.Bales’ research is helping John Marshall students piece together events of Oct. 8, 1871, as they prepare for the April 15 trial of Sullivan, who allegedly gave false statements of his activities that night.
Bales’ research suggested that, in fact, “Peg Leg” Sullivan started the fire and later lied to protect himself. “We have gone through historical documents and pieced together events of that night by reading testimony of Mrs. O’Leary, Sullivan, their neighbors, firemen and others,” Ruebner said. “This trial will be as factually accurate as possible.”
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Locallo will preside at the trial. The prosecution team members are John Marshall Professor Kenneth Kandaras, as advisor, First Assistant State’s Attorney David Erickson, Cook County Assistant State’s Attorneys Kelly Bartz, Anna Demacopoulos and Lynda Peters, and students Allison Slomovitz and Melissa Smart. Thedefense team members are John Marshall Professors Ron Smith, as advisor, and Robert Nye, and attorneys Deborah Gubin of Deborah Gubin and Associates, Merilyn Brown of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Catharine O’Daniel, Rachelle Niedzwiecki of Sachnoff and Weaver, Ltd., and students Brian Russell and Timothy McCarthy.