The Champaign County State’s Attorney’s Office has repeatedly refused to supply records related to the malicious prosecution of two men – a prosecution based on falsified evidence which left them imprisoned for one year.
Wayne Colson and Quintin Brown were arrested by Urbana Police and imprisoned for an alleged robbery and shooting in January 2018. A year later, they were both released after the State’s Attorney Julia Rietz said there was no case for prosecution because there existed no physical evidence linking the men to the incident.
On January 22nd, 2020 Colson and Brown both filed lawsuits (see stamped complaints here and here) against the City of Urbana and a number of specific Urbana Police officers. The lawsuits allege that Urbana Police wrongfully imprisoned the two men, falsified evidence, and coerced witnesses into making false statements. They further claim that the officers engaged in conspiracy to deprive the men of their constitutional rights, engaged in malicious prosecution, and caused “loss of liberty, monetary expenses, emotional distress, and other injuries.”
Check CU Founder Christopher Hansen attempted to acquire records related to the imprisonment and prosecution of Colson and Brown from Champaign County via Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests on June 8th, September 25th, October 26th, and December 17th of 2020.
In every attempt, Assistant State’s Attorney Matthew Banach assessed unlawful FOIA fees, thereby denying the requests. Banach claimed that each request for the Colson & Brown records was “voluminous”, and he wanted at least $200 in fees paid before he would begin processing the records.
However, public bodies are not permitted to classify FOIA requests as voluminous or charge voluminous request fees if the request is being made by news media. Hansen made clear in his requests that he was a writer for CheckCU.org and the Public i, and that the records would be used to write articles and provide information to the public, but Banach still assessed unlawful fees and the Champaign County State’s Attorney Office never produced the records.
From Illinois statute (5 ILCS 140/2)(h):
“Voluminous request” does not include a request made by news media and non-profit, scientific, or academic organizations if the principal purpose of the request is: (1) to access and disseminate information concerning news and current or passing events; (2) for articles of opinion or features of interest to the public; or (3) for the purpose of academic, scientific, or public research or education.
Copies of Hansen’s FOIA requests and the responses issued by Matthew Banach are provided below.
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