Crime & Safety
Mistrial Declared After Witness Recognizes Wilmette Defense Attorney
Doug Rathe, the court-assigned defense attorney in the trial, was a fingered as a former client at a massage business that has allegedly hosted sex-trafficking.
A federal sex-trafficking case has been deemed a mistrial because of the connection between a witness and the defense attorney, a Wilmette resident, the Chicago Tribune reports.
Liudmyla Ksenych, a massage therapist who was testifying on Aug. 22, told prosecutors that the defense attorney Doug Rathe was a former client who had given her perfume and sent emails.
Earlier—Meet Your Candidates: Village Trustee Hopeful Doug Rathe
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Rathe had been assigned by the court to defend Alex Campbell, who's being charged for allegedly running a sex-trafficking ring out of his Chicago massage parlor. A former Board Trustee who also , Rathe admitted to buying perfume for Ksenych, but said he "did not engage in any illegal activities."
While prosecutors told the Tribune "they had no evidence to indicate that anything but massages took place."
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