DUI prosecuted aggressively; murder, not so much

State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons has arrested Sheriff Mike McCoy’s son Tyler McCoy for DUI two months after the September incident:

State’s Attorney Kevin Lyons said his case will consist mainly of observations from a motorist to stopped to assist Tyler McCoy at about 5:30 a.m. Sept. 27 as well as a deputy who responded to the crash. Absent are any field sobriety tests, Breathalyzer or blood tests, as McCoy was never asked to submit to such testing.

But the county’s top prosecutor quipped that speeders were prosecuted long before the invention of the radar gun.

So the State’s Attorney is continuing to pursue this case even in the face of scant evidence and only two witnessees — one of whom changed his story after being threatened with criminal charges by the county’s top prosecutor. But Devear Lewis, a guy who fired two guns into a crowd of people, injuring two and killing Teddy Jackson in cold blood, “struck a deal for his guilty plea to a single count of possession of a weapon by a felon.” Reason: Only two witnesses were able to pick Lewis out of a lineup, and one of them changed his story from what he originally told police.

I’m all for cops being held to the same standard of justice as the civilians they are sworn to protect. But McCoy has yet to be treated like anyone else. Not being given a Breathalyzer test at the time of the incident was extremely lenient treatment. But Lyons’ aggressive prosecution is swinging the pendulum to the other extreme. Why wasn’t Lewis prosecuted this aggressively? I would submit that Lewis is way more dangerous to society than Tyler McCoy will ever be. Why the double-standard?

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18 thoughts on “DUI prosecuted aggressively; murder, not so much”

  1. How about the administrator at D150 who has “allegedly” stolen money. 7 month investigation, now indict this woman, Mr. Lyons…..

  2. Yes evidently it is more important to pursue thy political enemies than deal with the corruption in our school district that is destroying Peoria.

  3. We’ll see who actually tries this case in the courtroom;it won’t be Kevin or Nancy. Some low level prosecutor will be sent in to take the lumps. I don’t believe the charges were politically motivated, just done to get the pressure off the States Attorney office for now.

  4. First you bloggers complain that the States Attorny isn’t doing enough, then when he does you complain that he shouldn’t. Which one is it already? Why should Lyons not call out public officials and law enforcement personell that abuse their power and influence? Isn’t that another one of your pet peeves? Let a jury decide this one.

  5. clueless – after a 7 month investigation and no indictment – maybe that suggests something – or are you at a family gathering where they are hoping for an indictment to help further their own financial gain. clueless, yes you are.

  6. There will be an indictment, “give it a rest”. We justed hoped it would be sooner, rather than later!!! Yes, we were at a family gathering, giving thanks for all the GOOD in this world.

  7. Clueless, you are right, seven months is outrageous. Whether Davis is found guilty or not, it is ridiculous. She sure is getting her money for doing nothing.

  8. Gee, do you suppose it would have anything to do with the upcoming elections? I wonder who Mr. Lyons supports?

  9. The public and DA found out about the McCoy incident because a defense attroney tried to impeach the crediblilty of McCoy Jr. If Jr. is not involved in this DUI crash with A MEG VEHICLE (A TAXPAYER VEHICLE) this particular case (and many more) are not endangered. In other words McCoy Jr. actions have many MEG cases in the balance.

    Put yourself in Lyons shoes when this defense attroney trys to impeach the crediblity of Jr McCoy and you know nothing about this incident. Would you not be steamed? I think the sheriff department only is to blame. Something to think about for those of you who complain about Lyons being weak on crime.

    Would an attroney have an opinion on crediblity of MEG cases involving McCoy Jr? If Griggs would performed a DUI test would defense attroneys still try to impeach the crediblity of McCoy Jr.? Does Lyons have a credible DUI case?

  10. I think there is collusion between Lyons and Sheriff McCoy. With the election coming up this will be a show trial to “show” that Junior isn’t getting preferential treatment.

    Nothing will come of this trial due to passage of time, no field evidence etc. and McCoy Sr. will have quieted critics who want to point out that his son received preferential treatment.

  11. Usually those posting on this site are well informed and do not rely on the scant information in the PJS to form an opinion. For instance, were you aware that the State had to arrest five (5) of the witnesses in the Devear Lewis case to even get them to Court? And when they testified to the jury they didn’t know who was the shooter/s? Or that one of the shooting victims testified that he “didn’t know who shot him, but it wasn’t Devear Lewis”?

  12. I believe that the prosecutor in the Devear Lewis case did the right thing because he didn’t have a rock solid case. Because of that it would have been dismissed and he didn’t want that. This way there is always the chance that more evidence will come forward and he can then reindict the criminal and put him where he belongs for the crime. In the mean time he did manage to get him convicted on a charge even though small. If you don’t have a rock solid case you don’t want to risk dismissal where double jeopardy is involved. He knew what he was doing.

  13. I’ve let hundreds of drunks go. Drive away? Absolutely not. But have a friend come get them or take them home myself are other options. There is no law that says we have to arrest someone for DUI. McCoy was given no special treatment that has not been allocaded to ordinary citizens. This is a dangerous road Lyons has taken now. By threatening to charge the other deputy, he has said if officers use their discretion and give warnings instead of tickets or arrests, he will charge them with felonies. Very disturbing. This will just waste more taxpayer dollars. Look at how the case against the Peoria officers is progressing. If it goes to trial, people will see most of Lyons case is a farce and based on opinions, not facts. Yet he’s managed to waste 300,000 dollars of the cities budget so far and more when the city will have to pay those officers back.

  14. SD – Uhhh, jeopardy did attach and there can be no reindictment…and it still was the correct decision by the State’s Attorneys.

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