Cook County prosecutors’ Conviction Review Unit head plans to step down in July

The recently-appointed head of a unit that reviews potential wrongful convictions for the Cook County state’s attorney’s office plans to step down in July, according to a source close to the administration.

Michelle Mbekeani, who has worked in the office since 2018 as a legal and policy adviser, was named head of the rebranded Conviction Review Unit in December following the controversial tenure of Nancy Adduci, who previously led the unit.

Mbekeani will depart in July to prepare for the birth of her child and because she did not plan to stay on after Kim Foxx’s tenure ends later this year, the source said, adding that her planned maternity leave would have reached nearly to the end of the term.

The Conviction Review Unit investigates claims of innocence and makes recommendations for remedies to Foxx, whose office has vacated more than 250 convictions. It’s unclear in what direction the incoming state’s attorney will take the unit, a key initiative of Foxx’s.

The unit’s leadership drew scrutiny under Adduci because of her role prosecuting defendants accused of shooting and killing Chicago police Officer Clifton Lewis in 2011. The state’s attorney’s office in June dropped charges against two of the three suspects amid accusations from defense attorneys of misconduct on behalf of the police and prosecutors who handled the case, including Adduci.

Lewis was shot and killed by two masked men in December 2011 while working a second job as security at a West Side convenience store. Cook County prosecutors charged Tyrone Clay, Alexander Villa and Edgardo Colon in a case that dragged on for more than a decade.

In motions filed to the court, defense attorneys accused Adduci and her co-counsel of deliberately trying to withhold evidence by using personal email addresses — not subject to disclosure under public record laws — in communications with the Chicago Police Department. They previously filed a motion asking a judge to levy sanctions.

Mbekeani also drew scrutiny during her short tenure heading the unit because of a business venture she launched as a law student. The enterprise, called Period, offers legal help to people who are incarcerated, according to a description of the project by the University of Chicago Law School. Her involvement elicited criticism from some who believed it to be a conflict of interest with her current position at the state’s attorney’s office.

A Cook County judge in January took the unusual step of banning her from his courtroom over the business venture and her statements about it, according to an order from the court.

“Based on the testimony from the hearing of January 8th and in addition to her prior statements made in court and to the media, this court makes the following finding: that a per se conflict of interest exists on the part of ASA Mbekeani given her commitment and duty to represent the interests of victims of crime and their families while contemporaneously serving as the Registered Agent, Director, President and CEO of a corporation that works on behalf of defendants and defense attorneys on post-conviction cases,” Judge Michael McHale wrote in the order. “In light of this per se conflict, ASA Mbekeani is hereby removed from this case.”

The state’s attorney’s office hit back, calling the complaints “unfounded.”

“Casting doubt on Michelle’s commitment and integrity leads to significant delays in our work, which have severe consequences — not only prolonging the wrongful incarceration of innocent individuals but also impeding the healing and closure needed by victims and their families,” the office said in a statement.

In her prior policy-focused role at the state’s attorney’s office, Mbekeani lobbied for legislation prohibiting police officers from using deception when interrogating minors. She was previously an attorney at the Sargent Shriver Center on Poverty Law and earned her law degree from the University of Chicago Law School in 2014.

“I am deeply honored to lead the Conviction Review Unit, a culmination of my life’s work thus far in criminal justice reform,” Mbekeani said in a news release upon being appointed to the role. “My experiences, from advocating for wrongfully convicted individuals and their rights to initiating groundbreaking legislative reforms, have uniquely prepared me for this role. I am committed to upholding justice, addressing historical inequities, and ensuring that our legal system represents fairness and integrity for all.”