Michael Toomin, a retired Cook County judge who was on the bench more than four decades before retiring in December, died Friday. He was 85.
Mr. Toomin died of an “aggressive cancer,” according to Assistant Cook County Public Defender Bill Murphy, one of the people at Toomin’s side when he died in hospice.
“His life was the law,” Murphy said. “If there was a judge’s hall of fame, he would be one of the first people admitted to it.”
At the time he retired, Mr. Toomin was presiding judge of the juvenile division. In his 42 years on the bench, he also had served as chief judge of Cook County’s criminal courts. Before become a judge, he spent a dozen years as a defense attorney.
Murphy said Mr. Toomin died of an “aggressive cancer” that “spread quickly” — starting just a few months ago with “just having a cough” before he was diagnosed.
“It surprised everybody,” Murphy told the Sun-Times Friday night. “I hated seeing him the way he was the last few days, knowing what a vibrant guy he was. [But] he died in peace.”
Mr. Toomin presided over many high profile cases, including Chicago mobster Jeff Fort and hitman Harry Aleman.
In 2012, he appointed a special prosecutor, former U.S. Attorney Dan K. Webb, to investigate a possible police cover-up of an assault by Richard J. Vanecko, a nephew of former Mayor Richard M. Daley. That assault led to the death of 21-year-old David Koschman. Webb’s investigation resulted in a manslaughter charge against Vanecko, who pleaded guilty.
Born April 14, 1938, Mr. Toomin was expelled from New Trier High School after he and some friends stole a squad car for a joy ride. But he ended up at Northwestern University after getting his GED in the Marines, where he served from 1956 to 1958. He then headed to DePaul University College of Law, graduating in 1967.
After practicing law with his father — who once got a federal appointment to be associate justice of the High Court of the Trust Territory of the Pacific — he became a judge in 1980.
Outside the courtroom, Mr. Toomin spent Wednesday nights at the Tripoli Tap for so-called “Toomin nights,” where retired judges, practicing public defenders and others would gather for drinks and stories — even though, according to Murphy, the judge “wasn’t much of a drinker.”
While he would often get dinner with friends on Sunday nights, where he’d tell stories of his days as a “tenacious” trial lawyer, much of Mr. Toomin’s weekends were spent preparing memorandums at home, according to Murphy.
“He taught me how to be a trial lawyer, how to act in front of a jury” Murphy said. “If you were a judge who worked under him, you felt you were lucky. He was always available and really knew his stuff.”
Mr. Toomin also enjoyed traveling and sharing it with others, taking his friends on trips to Europe. When Murphy’s daughters, who were the judge’s godchildren, went to spend time abroad, he bought them train passes to make their exploration easier.
In 2020, Mr. Toomin survived an intraparty fight, when the Cook County Democratic Party opted not to endorse him. Party leaders argued they had legitimate concerns over his views on juvenile justice. And there was criticism after Judge Toomin made it harder for juveniles to be released during pre-trial detention in the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Others saw the move as payback for his appointment of a special prosecutor to look into how the Cook County state’s attorney’s office handled the case of Jussie Smollett, the actor who falsely claimed to have been the victim of a hate attack.
That special prosecutor — Webb again — concluded prosecutors had botched the case, and he filed new charges against Smollett for making false police reports.
Survivors include two nephews.
Contributing: Tim Novak