March 8, 2017

"A man who beat his murder case when prosecutors failed to give him a speedy trial was killed minutes after leaving Cook County Jail on Monday night..."

The Chicago Tribune reports:
Cook County prosecutors dropped the murder charges at the end of January after allowing too much time to elapse under the state’s speedy trial statute, according to court records and Belmont’s attorney.  The robbery charges remained and [Kamari Belmont, 23] was ordered held on a $100,000 bond.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday, a friend of Belmont posted the required $10,000 on the bond and Belmont was released at 11:12 p.m., according to jail officials.

Belmont was a few block from the jail when a white SUV pulled up to his car on California Avenue and someone inside started shooting, police said. Belmont was hit several times....
Time — too long and too short.

39 comments:

David Begley said...

No wonder the Obamas didn't move back. Unsafe.

rcocean said...

Justice comes in many forms.

CWJ said...

Wonder who dropped a dime on when he'd be released. You can almost hear the "screw" punching in the number the moment the door closed behind him as he left.

FullMoon said...

Friend of murder/robber is out ten thousand.
Friend/relative of victim did the deed. Pretty bold move.

madAsHell said...

Sometimes you have spit on your hands, raise the black lives matter flag, and shoot some unrepenting bastard.

Oddly, spell checker doesn't like unrepenting.

madAsHell said...

We will have more of this until the courts get it right!!

MacMacConnell said...

Friedrich Nietzsche was wrong God's not dead, he works in mysterious ways.(and he has a sense of humor) God rat fucked Kamari Belmont.

Paul said...

I guess he was a 'loose end'.....

Birkel said...

...unrepentant...

boycat said...

Ball don't lie.

Michael K said...

The $10,000 bond was an investment.

Probably stolen, anyway.

Those gun turn in drives get mostly stolen guns turned in for money, anyway.

Lucien said...

Sometimes waiving your speedy trial rights is a lifesaver.

tola'at sfarim said...

How quickly will someone file a wrongful death suit against the city?

glenn said...

One more example of "folks" getting the government they deserve.

Etienne said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...

Guy was in jail since May 1 2015. Family finally raised the bail.

Lawyer said he didn’t believe Belmont’s killing was street justice. The armed robbery and murder weren’t gang-related, Johnson said, and he didn't think it possible that word spread that quickly of Belmont's release from jail.

Sam L. said...

Forget it, Jake; It's Chi-town.

Sebastian said...

The Big House is the safe(r) house.

Amadeus 48 said...

A notorious figure that the CPD has thrown around is that there are 13,000 people who are likely to kill or be killed in the city and the CPD knows who they are.

On the one hand, only 12,999 to go. On the other, I don't feel safer.

Jupiter said...

So his "friend" came up with $10K, but didn't stick around to talk with him after he got out. Funny that.

Jupiter said...

"“Oh my God, I can’t believe it,” said Belmont’s attorney, Michael Johnson, who said he has known Belmont’s family for more than two decades."

Funny that, too. They probably met in church. Or anyway, some place with long benches and lot of hardwood panelling.

Yancey Ward said...

You probably get the bail back since it only is forfeit if the defendant flees, not dies.

It is likely that either his compatriots in crime killed him as a loose end, or the victim's family or friends took the matter into their own hands given the murder charge was dropped.

At this point, I hope he was guilty of the murder.

stlcdr said...

Sounds like ...problem solved?

I must admit, I was thinking he got in a car accident or something. I don't believe there is any irony here.

Trumpit said...

"the state’s speedy trial statute" needs to be repealed if it can allow a murderer to escape justice.

MadTownGuy said...

I wonder how long it will take Dick Wolf to make this into an episode of "Chicago Justice." If he does, count on the cops to be the perps. Ripped from the headlines!

James Pawlak said...

The report did not indicate his prior record---If any.

Curious George said...

"""A man who beat his murder case when prosecutors failed to give him a speedy trial was killed minutes after leaving Cook County Jail on Monday night..."

When do the BLM protests start?

MikeR said...

That's terrible. We could have saved him by jailing him for life.

Curious George said...

Remember the argument that life in prison was cheaper than the death penalty? Not in Chicago.

Levi Starks said...

Reminds me of a scene in the movie "Jackie Brown" after Samuel L Jackson bailed a guy out...

Sammy Finkelman said...

Gang warfare.

Sammy Finkelman said...

Of course, if this was planned, bailing him out would be part of the conspiracy, unless the person(s) who bailed him out, wrere spied on - or perhaps somebdy in the jail or in law enforcement was paid off.

nono said...

They dropped the murder charge because--allowing too much time to elapse under the state’s speedy trial statute--but did not drop the robbery charge. WTF Sounds like they are doing it backwards.

Nancy Reyes said...

Over half of the "extra-judicial killings" in the Philippines are similar private hits, because the perpetrators of murder etc. got away with it due to a corrupt and slow justice system... once Duterte took over, they figured they could pay back a la "dirty harry" and not get prosecuted.

Josephbleau said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Josephbleau said...

Don't worry about getting the bail back. If his will or estate is probated the hospital that took the body will get it for ER fees. There is no presumption that bail returns belong to anyone but the subject.

MD Greene said...

Celebrate if you wish, but this is not the way an effective criminal justice system is supposed to work.

damikesc said...

"the state’s speedy trial statute" needs to be repealed if it can allow a murderer to escape justice.

I support that law, actually. The state shouldn't be able to keep you in jail for an indefinite time without a trial. 2 years to begin a trial seems awfully excessive.

Juan Cauvin said...

'"the state’s speedy trial statute" needs to be repealed if it can allow a murderer to escape justice.'

"I support that law, actually. The state shouldn't be able to keep you in jail for an indefinite time without a trial. 2 years to begin a trial seems awfully excessive."

Exactly. That statute serves a good and legitimate purpose as a safeguard against a rogue gov't. The statute is fine. It's Chicago that needs to be repealed.