Judge Grants $400 Bail To Man Charged With Raping Disabled Woman; '$400 Is A Reprehensible Bond'
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Why did a judge let an alleged rapist out on bond for $400 cash? That's the question CBS 2 Investigator Brad Edwards asked the man accused of that very crime.
How did Burnell Johnson get a $400 cash bond? The CBS 2 Investigators asked him after a recent court appearance.
"Again, that's just an accusation," Johnson said.
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Not just accusations, Johnson faces criminal charges, including seven counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault of a handicapped person.
His alleged victim, only known by her initials in police reports, is in her 30's, but functions as a 6-year-old, with an IQ of 47.
According to the police reports she "suffered severe smoke inhalation during a house fire when she was approximately one year old."
The fire caused "brain damage, visual impairment, and difficulty using her right arm."
The victim gets help at a suburban non-profit.
She told an aide there "she had sexual intercourse with Burnell [Johnson] several times," adding that it, "caused her pain."
She rode Pace bus 14-144. Johnson was her Pace bus driver. The bus has a camera; but, according to police reports, "Burnell Johnson placed his baseball hat over the camera...prevented it from capturing any images."
However, Johnson can be heard saying, "[blank] me. … I know you're getting hot."
On June 9, Judge David Navarro denied Johnson bail. On June 12, Judge Eulalia De La Rosa upheld that decision: no bail.
On June 15, Johnson went from no bail to a D $4,000 bond, plus EM -- that means $400 bucks cash to get out on electronic home monitoring.
Outside the courthouse, Johnson refused to answer questions saying, "Would you please tell them to get this out of my face?"
After his court appearance, Johnson headed to an apartment in Forest Park, where he stays with his sister, Maxine Johnson, who accompanied her brother to the recent court hearing.
Professor Richard Schack, chair of the criminal justice department at National Louis University, has concerns with the $400 cash bond.
"For a case such as this, $400 is a reprehensible bond," Schack said.
An accused rapist out on $400 cash, by orders of Judge Stanley Hill.
CBS 2 has reported on Hill in the past.
Robert Arnold is the nephew of Ethel Naumoff, a woman who was allegedly burglarized by a man who also received a lenient bond from Judge Hill.
"I flipped. I go, 'Are you kidding me? This guy gets 10 frigging i-bonds?'" Arnold said.
When Cupello got out, he allegedly stole more than $14,000 from Naumoff.
Another alleged victim, Denise Montalbano, said Cupello "grabbed me in a bear hug" during a battery. That court case is ongoing.
Montalbano said she is "petrified."
Yet another alleged victim – named Kristina – recalled her run-in with a perpetrator who passed through Hill's courtroom.
"It's like your world comes crashing down," Kristina recalled.
Kristina, who doesn't want her last name used, was assaulted by 79-time arrestee Cornell McWilliams. McWilliams then publicly masturbated in a Northlake gas station.
Yet, during a bench trial, Hill didn't convict McWilliams of any sex offenses.
The CBS 2 Investigators did a story on that outcome, and then Hill sentenced McWilliams to be on the sex offender registry.
Is that possible?
"Well, he did do it," said CBS 2 legal analyst Irv Miller. "The only people that could tell him that he can't do it are the appellate court judges."
That's where that case is now.
"Judge Hill does things the way that Judge Hill wants to do them," Miller added.
Back to the case of alleged rapist Burnell Johnson.
"I find that the bond is set too low," said a different judge, Pamela Leeming.
Leeming increased the bond ten-fold, but Johnson is still out on electronic monitoring.
The CBS 2 Investigators have learned Johnson is considered the highest threat among those on electronic monitoring, termed "administrative high priority."
The CBS 2 Investigators showed that list to Professor Richard Schack, chair of the criminal justice program at National Louis University.
"I certainly wouldn't want them out on my watch, and I certainly wouldn't want them out in my neighborhood," Schack said.
Johnson's lawyer, Karen Mondry, refused to comment on whether or not she was surprised that Judge Hill let her client out on bond.
So, how did Hill come up with a $400 cash bond, when two other judges refused Johnson bond?
According to the court transcript, Johnson's lawyer said the family could post $400.
Hill asked, "are there any youngsters in the home?"
Then an "audience member" responded, "No. Just with me."
Hill then started talking to that audience member, using her first name.
"What is it, Maxine? What?" Hill asked.
Hill was talking to Maxine Johnson, sister of accused rapist Burnell Johnson.
She suggested the $400 dollar bond that Hill then ordered. It so happens Maxine Johnson is also a retired court clerk in the same courthouse as Hill.
"It's not proper, and shouldn't be done," Miller said. "I've seen thousands of bond hearings. I have never seen a judge call out into a gallery, to someone by their first name, who happens to be a family member of the defendant in front of them."
"That has the appearance of impropriety. That judge isn't supposed to know the family of the defendant when he's setting a bond," Miller added
It also could raise troubling questions.
"It could be trouble, because a judge isn't supposed to have a personal interest on any case, especially when setting a bond on a rape case involving a handicapped person just doesn't look good," Miller said.
Burnell Johnson pleaded not guilty.
CBS 2 spoke with the alleged victim's mother. English is the family's second language.
"This is the worst thing that's has ever happened to my family," she said. "My daughter did not deserve this. She trusted him."
The CBS 2 Investigators repeatedly requested comment from Judge Hill. He has not responded.
