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Judge caught on livestream in sexist rant at lawyer: ‘Imagine waking up next to her’

‘The judge out of nowhere, for no apparent reason’, made comments about well known attorney

Gino Spocchia
Friday 14 January 2022 14:50 GMT
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Attorney Jennifer Bonjean responds to remarks
Attorney Jennifer Bonjean responds to remarks (WGN-TV )
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A lawyer in Chicago has allegedly filed a complaint against a Cook County judge for remarks that she said were “sexist” and caught on a livestream.

Judge William Raines had been in a conversation with two assistant state’s attorneys and an assistant public defender when he allegedly made “sexist and offensive” remarks about attorney Jennifer Bonjean on Tuesday.

“Can you imagine waking up next to her every day? Oh, my God!” Mr Raines allegedly said of Ms Bonjean. “I couldn’t have a visual on that if you paid me. So, there you have it”.

According to MailOnline, Ms Bonjean also described by Mer Raines as “going nuts?! Glasses off, fingers through her hair, the phone’s going all over the place, it’s insane”.

He was seemingly unaware that he was being recorded on a YouTube live stream but realised after making rude remarks about the well-know lawyer. The video stream was then ended.

His assistants and the public defender also reportedly criticised Ms Bonjean, who requested their remarks be included in a transcript of the session, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.

“What horrifies me the most about the whole thing is that he was going to continue to preside over a case and decide the fate of my client, and my client’s been lost in all of this,” Ms Bonjean said in an interview with WGN-TV.

Cook County judge William Raines (Judge William Raines/YouTube)

“Like I said, they were closing up shop if you will, and the judge out of nowhere, for no apparent reason, says ‘oh, I’m still replaying in my head the argument between Todd (who is the state’s attorney), and Ms Bonjean’”.

While the state’s attorneys office has apologised to Ms Bonjean, who told the Sun-Times the remarks were “sexist and offensive”, Mr Raines had not reportedly done the same.

She has defend clients in the past including Bill Crosby, who had sexual assault claims overturned last year.

In a statement to The Independent, the Office of the Chief Judge of Cook County said “The chief judge will hold an executive committee meeting on Tuesday - consisting of all presiding judges - to determine further action”.

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