Romanucci & Blandin and Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge file civil lawsuit on behalf of exonerated inmate Herman Williams

August 24, 2023

CHICAGO (August 24, 2023) – Romanucci & Blandin, LLC, and Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, LLC together announce the filing of a civil lawsuit on behalf of Herman Williams detailing his wrongful conviction for the 1993 murder of his former wife in Lake County, Illinois. Herman’s wrongful conviction was the result of a fabricated confession, manufactured and concealed evidence, and false testimony by law enforcement, public servants who had abandoned their professional and ethical obligations to falsely acquire this conviction to advance their careers. Herman spent nearly 29 years incarcerated and proved his innocence in 2022 through forensic re-examination and new DNA testing, as well as a demonstration of serial misconduct by law enforcement officials involved in his case.

Case Background

Herman Williams and his former wife Penny Williams shared two young children in 1993, 6-year-old Charlie and 3-year-old Crystal. Herman, at age 29, was a decorated member of the U.S. Navy who had served two tours in the Gulf War and was stationed at the Great Lakes Naval Base in Lake County, Illinois. He and Penny had a platonic and strong relationship, despite their divorce and were committed to the well-being of their children. Herman remarried his second wife, Kitty, yet his relationship with Penny remained cordial and collaborative. Herman and Penny were actively committed to the well-being of their young children and had a pull-out bed at the apartment so they could co-parent together but have separate sleeping arrangements.

The State’s false accusation at trial was that Herman murdered Penny on the evening of Wednesday, September 22, 1993, likely sometime between 8:00 – 9:00 p.m. This was false.

Specifically, on Wednesday evening, Herman and Penny left around 7:45 p.m. and went shopping while their neighbor watched their children. Herman and Penny returned to their neighbor’s later that evening, picked up the children, and returned to their apartment. Witnesses confirmed these facts.

The following morning, Penny was still alive and well when Herman left their apartment at about 6:45 a.m. to shuttle the children to school and babysitters before reporting to work at the Naval base. When Herman returned from the Naval base that afternoon, Penny was gone. When Penny had not returned after several hours, Herman called the Gurnee Police that night to express his concern and report her missing but was told he needed to wait until more time had passed before he could do so.

On Friday morning, as Herman reported Penny missing, her purse was turned into the Naval base after being found in the trash at a Park City, Illinois, car wash. An investigation was initiated, with the Great Lakes Major Crime Task Force (the “Task Force”) leading the investigation. Two days later, on Sunday, September 26, 1993, Penny’s body was found in a shallow pond near Midlane Country Club in Waukegan, Illinois.

The Lake County Major Crimes Task Force had tunnel vision and focused solely on Herman Williams as the suspect in Penny’s murder. As alleged in Herman’s civil lawsuit, the misconduct of members of the Task Force as well as Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Mermel and medical examiner Nancy Jones caused Herman’s wrongful conviction. Among other bad acts, Sgt. Lou Tessmann manufactured a confession that Herman never gave.

Furthermore, Assistant State's Attorney Michael Mermel, with the assistance of other Task Force officers, manufactured evidence that Penny’s purse was found in a dumpster near Herman’s second wife's apartment, not at the car wash, as reported when the purse was turned in to authorities.

Finally, ASA Mermel and medical examiner Nancy Jones fabricated a time-of-death opinion that Penny Williams was killed between 8-9 p.m. Wednesday evening. All the while, both Mermel and Jones concealed the opinion Dr. Jones had previously given, which was that the death could have occurred much later into Thursday and Friday when Herman’s whereabouts were extensively corroborated. On re-examination of the forensic evidence years later, experts for both the State and Herman would demonstrate that Jones’ revised opinion was scientifically unsupportable.

Despite his insistence that he was innocent, Herman was convicted of Penny’s murder on the strength of the fabricated and concealed evidence above.

Years later, Herman was able to demonstrate his innocence in several ways. First, it was learned that Sgt. Tessman repeatedly fabricated confessions in other cases. To date, his behavior has resulted in three exonerations in addition to Herman Williams, causing the State’s Attorney’s Office to concede in 2022 that Tessmann had a pattern of fabricating evidence.

Further, ASA Michael Mermel was forced to resign from the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in 2011 due to behavior unbecoming of a law enforcement officer.

Finally, after nearly 29 years in prison, forensic re-examination and new testing of DNA evidence established Herman’s innocence. The Lake County State’s Attorney agreed to vacate his conviction in September 2022, acknowledging the serial misconduct by Lake County, Illinois, law enforcement as well as the falsity of the junk science used against Herman at trial. Although a step in the right direction, his exoneration can never give back the decades he spent in prison, nor the opportunity to raise his two children, who grew up with a wrongfully incarcerated father and the belief that he had murdered their mother.

Romanucci & Blandin Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci and others, together with Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge Founding Partners Brian Eldridge and Steven Hart, and Partners Carter Grant and John Marrese represent the plaintiff.

The lawsuit was filed on August 23, 2023, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division.

The plaintiff is Herman Williams. The defendants are:

LUCIAN (LOU) TESSMANN, individually and as an agent of the City of Waukegan, Illinois, and Lake County, Illinois;
CHARLES FAGAN, individually and as an agent of Lake County, Illinois;
KIMBERLY GAROFALO, as Independent Administrator of the ESTATE OF GREGORY GAROFALO, deceased;
DENNIS PENSALA, individually and as an agent of Lake County, Illinois;
CHARLES BELL, individually and as an agent of the Village of Libertyville, Illinois, and Lake County, Illinois;
RICHARD DAVIES, individually and as an agent of Lake County, Illinois;
ROBERT RANDALL, individually and as an agent of Lake County, Illinois;
LEONARD BREZINSKI, individually and as an agent of Lake County, Illinois;
DANIEL COLIN, individually and as an agent of Lake County, Illinois;
MICHAEL MERMEL, individually and as an agent Lake County, Illinois;
KAREN JONES, as Independent Administrator of the ESTATE OF NANCY JONES, deceased; -MICHAEL WALLER, in his official capacity as former State’s Attorney of Lake County, Illinois;
LAKE COUNTY, ILLINOIS, a municipal corporation;
CITY OF WAUKEGAN, ILLINOIS, a municipal corporation;
VILLAGE OF GURNEE, ILLINOIS, a municipal corporation;
VILLAGE OF LIBERTYVILLE, ILLINOIS, a municipal corporation;
VILLAGE OF VERNON HILLS, a municipal corporation;
COOK COUNTY, ILLINOIS, a municipal corporation.

Counts in the Complaint include:

COUNT 1 - 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Deprivation of Liberty Without Due Process of Law
(Against Defendants Lucian Tessmann, Charles Fagan, Estate of Greg Garofalo, deceased, Dennis Pensala, Charles Bell, Richard Davies, Robert Randall, Leonard Brezinski, Daniel Colin, Michael Mermel, Estate of Nancy Jones, deceased)
COUNT 2 - 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Unlawful Detention
(Against Defendants Lucian Tessmann, Charles Fagan, Estate of Greg Garofalo, deceased, Dennis Pensala, Charles Bell, Richard Davies, Robert Randall, Leonard Brezinski, Daniel Colin, Michael Mermel, Estate of Nancy Jones, deceased)
COUNT 3 - 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Monell Liability: Failure to Supervise or Discipline for Investigative Misconduct
(Against Defendants Lake County, Illinois; City of Waukegan, Illinois)
COUNT 4 - 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Monell Liability: Investigative Misconduct, Including Evidence Fabrication, Witness Coercion, and Withholding/Concealing Material Exculpatory Evidence
(Against Defendants Lake County, Illinois; City of Waukegan, Illinois)
COUNT 5 - 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Monell Liability: Fabricating Evidence and Non-Disclosure of Exculpatory Material Evidence
(Against Defendant Michael Waller, in his official capacity as Lake County State’s Attorney)
COUNT 6 - 42 U.S.C. § 1983: Civil Rights Conspiracy
(Against All Defendants)
COUNT 7 - Illinois Common Law: Malicious Prosecution
(Against Defendants Lucian Tessmann, Charles Fagan, Estate of Greg Garofalo, deceased, Dennis Pensala, Charles Bell, Richard Davies, Robert Randall, Leonard Brezinski, Daniel Colin, Michael Mermel, Estate of Nancy Jones, deceased)
COUNT 8 - Illinois Common Law: Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress
(Against Defendants Lucian Tessmann, Charles Fagan, Estate of Greg Garofalo, deceased, Dennis Pensala, Charles Bell, Richard Davies, Robert Randall, Leonard Brezinski, Daniel Colin, Michael Mermel, Estate of Nancy Jones, deceased)
COUNT 9 - Illinois Common Law: Willful and Wanton Conduct
(Against Defendants Lucian Tessmann, Charles Fagan, Estate of Greg Garofalo, deceased, Dennis Pensala, Charles Bell, Richard Davies, Robert Randall, Leonard Brezinski, Daniel Colin, Michael Mermel, Estate of Nancy Jones, deceased)
COUNT 10 - Illinois Common Law: Civil Conspiracy
(Against All Defendants)
COUNT 11 - Illinois Common Law: Respondeat Superior
(Against Defendants Lake County, Illinois; City of Waukegan, Illinois; Michael Waller, in his Official Capacity as Lake County State’s Attorney; Village of Gurnee, Illinois; Village of Libertyville, Illinois; Cook County, Illinois)
COUNT 12 - Illinois Law: Indemnification
(Against Defendants Lake County, Illinois; City of Waukegan, Illinois; Michael Waller, in his Official Capacity as Lake County State’s Attorney; Village of Gurnee, Illinois; Village of Libertyville, Illinois; Cook County, Illinois)

The complaint demands a jury trial and asks that the jury determine a dollar amount for compensatory damages, punitive damages, pre-judgment and post-judgment interest as allowable by law and as ordered by the Court, attorney fees, reasonable costs and such other relief that the Court deems just and equitable.

“After his wrongful conviction in 1994, Herman Williams spent nearly three decades in prison based on evidence fabricated or coerced by Sergeant Lou Tessmann of the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and Waukegan Police Department. Tessman flat-out lied, and we now know he did the same thing in other cases. In conjunction, Assistant State’s Attorney Michael Mermel fabricated evidence and withheld material facts at trial evidencing Herman’s innocence. However, Tessman and Mermel did not act alone and were aided by the misconduct of other officers with the Lake County Major Crime Task Force and its constituent agencies. This serial misconduct was emblematic of patterns and practices that were commonplace in the Task Force, municipal police departments, and the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office in the 1990s. It took time for it all to come to light, but we are dedicated to holding those bad actors accountable once and for all,” said Romanucci & Blandin Founding Partner Antonio M. Romanucci.

“All wrongful convictions are tragic and the harm to the victims – who spend years and often decades behind bars as innocent people – is immeasurable. Herman’s case is among the most egregious we’ve ever seen. He is 100% innocent and there was no legitimate evidence remotely connecting him to this crime. The only reason he was convicted and spent nearly 30 years in prison is because morally corrupt men like Tessman and Mermel literally made up evidence to advance their personal careers Their level of depravity is unconscionable and unparalleled. And that the fact that their respective employers condoned, ratified, and enabled their conduct makes this not just a case of bad apples, but a case of institutional indifference,” said Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge Founding Partner Brian Eldridge.

“Herman Williams suffered ceaselessly during his three decades of imprisonment and he continues to suffer today. He experienced horrific and permanent injury, loss of freedom and affection, as well as time with loved ones, especially his children Charlie and Crystal. He missed all of life’s major milestones - birthdays, weddings, graduations, funerals and births. Further, because of the conviction this decorated and proud member of the U.S. Navy received a bad conduct discharge and lost the benefits, experiences and rewards of his service. The cost of the defendant’s misconduct is staggering, and we are committed to delivering justice to him for all he has endured,” said Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge Founding Partner Steven Hart.

About Romanucci & Blandin, LLC

Romanucci & Blandin is a Chicago-based national trial practice committed to fighting for victims of negligence, abuse and wrongful death. For 25 years, we have secured more than $850 million in verdicts and settlements for our clients - many for millions of dollars and others record-setting awards. Our experience ranges from mass shootings, civil rights and police misconduct to medical malpractice, sexual abuse, motor vehicle accidents or workplace injury cases involving individual or institutional negligence. Romanucci & Blandin is a valuable legal resource to individuals and groups of people who have been injured by others’ wrongdoing. Referring attorneys and clients say several factors differentiate our firm: Our record of success, depth of experience, talented and dedicated legal team, tireless preparation and strategic use of communications to fight for the rights of those whose lives have been changed forever. We are different from other personal injury firms in that our work does not stop when a verdict or settlement is secured. We are often inspired by our clients’ experiences and commit resources to create change in our communities. For more information about Romanucci & Blandin, please visit www.rblaw.net or call (312) 458-1000.

About Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge

Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, LLC (“HME”) is a firm of trial lawyers specializing in civil rights, mass tort, and class action cases. The attorneys at HME practice on a nationwide basis in both federal and state courts and are actively involved in some of the largest and most significant cases in the country. HME attorneys are invested in the fight for justice and consistently take on cases to advance civil justice and equal rights. HME prides itself on winning complex cases, fiercely advocating for its clients, and being a driving force behind civil and social change in Chicago and throughout the country. HME’s civil rights practice includes cases involving wrongful convictions, wrongful shootings, police brutality, and unconstitutional policing. HME has also successfully challenged police policies through civil rights and class action cases in both Illinois and elsewhere. For more information about Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge, please visit www.hmelegal.com or call (312) 955-0545.