When Daniel “Peg Leg” Sullivan stands trial April 15 for his role in the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, a select jury of prominent Illinoisans will decide his fate.
The John Marshall Law School is presenting The People of the State of Illinois v. Daniel Sullivan at 2 p.m. Thursday, April 15, at the law school, 315 S. Plymouth Ct. Room 1200 will be transformed into a courtroom from the late 1800s, and witnesses and attorneys will be in period costumes.
Folklore says Mrs. O’Leary and her cow started the fire, but the Chicago City Council has exonerated her of all charges. The question now is, what did Daniel (aka Dennis “Peg Leg”) Sullivan, a neighbor of Mrs. Catherine O’Leary’s, know about the fire? He has been charged with two counts of perjury for testimony he gave to the Board of Police and Fire Commissioners and in a sworn deposition following the fire. The Honorable Daniel Locallo of Cook County Circuit Court will preside over the trial.
Sullivan’s fate will rest in the hands of 12 men and women. Alternates also have been selected. Agreeing to serve are Bernard Crane, a retired Chicago Fire Department captain; Loleta Didrickson, former Illinois state comptroller; Michael Donahue, assistant vice president for public and community affairs for McDonald’s Corp.; Jay Doherty, president of the City Club of Chicago.
Also, Nina Hall, vice president/community development director for Firstar Bank; Chicago Police Superintendent Terry Hillard; Bill Kurtis of Kurtis Productions; Chicago City Clerk James Laski; Peggy Boyer Long, editor of “Illinois Issues;” Associate Professor Jess Maghan of the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Illinois at Chicago; former DePaul University basketball coach Ray Meyer; Lori Montana, director of the Illinois State Lottery; Juan Rodriguez, director of governmental affairs at Sanchez & Healy; Dr. Shannughka Sundaram, and The Very Rev. Richard L. Tolliver, rector at The Church of St. Edmund King and Martyr (Episcopal).
Jurors will hear Looking Glass Theatre Company actors offer testimony as witnesses in the case. Sullivan will be portrayed by Andrew White, and his neighbors, Mrs.Catherine O’Leary and Mrs. Catharine McLaughlin, will be portrayed by Kim Leigh Smith and Meghan Strell. Thomas Cox has the role of Thomas B. Brown, president of the Chicago Police and Fire, and Gary Wingert will be Fire Marshall Robert Williams. Looking Glass Theatre Company teamed with John Marshall after performing the Jeff-Selected play “The Great Fire,” an historical accounting of what it was like to live through the October 1871 fire. The actors have a strong historical grasp of the 1871 events, which they will draw upon in giving testimony from the witness stand.
Sullivan has a strong and able defense team, headed up by attorneys Rachelle Niedzwiecki of Sachnoff and Weaver Ltd.; Deborah Gubin of Deborah Gubin and Associates; Merilyn D. Brown, attorney advisor for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and Catharine O’Daniel who are working with John Marshall students Timothy McCarthy and Brian Russell.
Arguing for the state will be attorneys Anna Demacopoulos, deputy supervisor of felony review for the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office; David Erickson, first assistant state’s attorney with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Lynda Peters and Kelly Bartz, assistant state’s attorneys; and John Marshall students Allison Slomovitz and Melissa Smart.