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Overzealous: Chicago Public Defender Arrested After Allegedly Attacking Prosecutor in Courthouse

Cook County public defender Henry Hams has been criminally charged after police say he choked a prosecutor in a courthouse after a dispute over setting a court date for a post conviction hearing.

Police say that Hams had to be pulled off the 50-year-old assistant state’s attorney who was then treated at Mount Sinai Hospital. Hams previously held a professional boxing license. He reportedly had the prosecutor in a headlock.

Hams, 47, works in the legal resources division of the Cook County Public Defender’s office and handles post-conviction appeals and appellate court matters. He has been charged with resisting arrest and aggravated battery in a public place.

For the full story, click here and here.

7 thoughts on “Overzealous: Chicago Public Defender Arrested After Allegedly Attacking Prosecutor in Courthouse”

  1. I was a deposition once where there was physical violence. Two guys literally jumped over the table at each other and started slugging (both clients). I was hiding under the table, so missed most of the “action”.

    At a closing, the in house lawyer for Freddie Mac threw another lawyer up against a wall. After he left Freddie for private practice, the Freddie lawyer was ultimately disbarred, not for flinging people against the wall, but for embezzling $2M from two clients to buy his stripper mistress her own strip club.

  2. A Public Defender’s office employee ; sounds like a work-related PTSD defense to me.

  3. “I’m attorney Joe Hams and I will FIGHT for you!”

    “Joe Hams, the know your rights, and your lefts, attorney”

    The ads just write themselves.

  4. “Police say that Hams had to be pulled off the 50-year-old assistant state’s attorney who was then treated at Mount Sinai Hospital. Hams previously held a professional boxing license. He reportedly had the prosecutor in a headlock”

    Now thats what you call a”public defender”

  5. I handled several criminal cases very early in my career, but really couldn’t get the hang of plea bargaining. Now I realize I was using the wrong techniques.

  7. From the badly written (or poorly posted) article:

    ” … The public defender allegedly told a bystander he did it because he was “sick of him mocking him,” the bystander said. …”

    ***********************************************************

    Well, I guess so … now everybody can mock him

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