Henry Hams
Yesterday’s Lawyer of the Day was a public defender who could use a little defending himself — after he allegedly choked a prosecutor. Inside a courthouse, of all places.
The story is even better than we first reported. From the Chicago Sun-Times:
The men went downstairs to the first floor, where [public defender Henry] Hams allegedly lashed out at the prosecutor outside a snack shop, authorities said.
At some point, Hams got on top of the victim and was choking him with both hands around his neck, Patterson said. When two sheriff’s deputies tried to pull Hams off the victim, Hams continued choking him with one hand and attempted to resist the deputy’s efforts with his other hand, Patterson said.
Choking a prosecutor with one hand, while resisting a deputy with the other? Impressive! Welcome to Cook County.
So, where did Henry Hams get his gift for brawling? And who’s representing him in the criminal case he’s facing?
When it comes to fighting, Henry Hams is a certified professional:
State records show Hams obtained a one-year professional boxing license in 2006. It’s unclear whether he was involved in any bouts, according to a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation, which issues the licenses. But another boxer at the Chicago Boxing Club, 3508 S. Halsted, said he has seen Hams working out at the club from time to time.
A public defender with a sideline in professional boxing? Has someone bought the movie rights yet?
(Alas, in light of how poorly paid PDs are, the film wouldn’t be called “Million-Dollar Baby.” How does “$52,000 Baby” sound?)
UPDATE: A commenter claims that Hams was licensed as a “second” or cornerman, rather than a boxer. But the point remains: Hams knows more than the average attorney about fighting.
One of our Chicago readers had this commentary on the whole episode: “Further proof that one should don a protective latex suit before entering a state court building….”
(Amen to that. We’ll stick to the federal courts, thank you very much. State court is just so… icky.)
In yesterday’s post, we noted that the public defender must be in need of representation, now that he’s been charged with battery. A reader tells us that Henry Hams has retained some colorful counsel: noted Chicago defense lawyer Richard Kling. Here’s an excerpt from Kling’s bio on the website of the Chicago-Kent law school, where he’s a clinical professor:
During the 1960s and ‘70s, the counter-culture used “flower power,” protests and love-ins to fight the perceived corrupt and over-reaching system of American government. Defense attorney Richard Kling, a self-proclaimed product of the ‘60s and clinical professor at the Chicago-Kent Law Offices, now uses the system to fight the system.
And represents lawyers who fight the system — literally.
The Kent faculty bio also notes that “Kling does not pull his punches, in or out of court.” Apparently neither do his clients.
Defense vs. prosecution: Lawyer allegedly chokes prosecutor after court spat [Chicago Sun-Times]
I'm glad Lat wrote this instead of Mystal.
Oh Sweet Baby Jesus, let the racist comments begin in 3…2…1
Oh Sweet Baby Jesus, let the racist comments begin in 3…2…1
Oh Sweet Baby Jesus, let the racist comments begin in 3…2…1
And Chicago lost in the best cities to practice contest. GTFO.
I'm not ruling out that public defenders are genetically predisposed to be violent.
This guy kinda looks like OJ.
Am I right?
At first I thought there would be some sort of tie-in to the OJ trial later in the article. I was disappointed. Then I became excited again when I realized that this could get racist real fast.
Racist? Why? All he did was choke a dude, it's not like he chucked a spear at the guy.
Sounds like Henry Hams picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue.
“This guy kinda looks like OJ.”
Not surprising since they all look alike. Right up there with “Some of my best friends are Black.”
OH, I'm sure he'll have a follow up once he makes it into work.
Also, this guy is no doubt an Obama voter.
Was the dude white?
This guy is a boxer? He was obviously in a fit of rage, if he would've been thinking clearly it would have been way easier to just snuff the prosecutor… maybe a right cross followed by an uppercut then Captain Morgan him and wait on security…at least that's what I would've done.
He does look somewhat like OJ. No one is saying he looks like Snoop Dogg, Tavis Smiley, Seal, or Morgan Freeman. Why must you be so quick to scream “racist”?
Maybe you need a refresher:
http://danjlovesthe90s.files.wordpress.com/2009...
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_vmpSO2BbYCE/SknKaJdQu...
Speaking of Crook County, Obama's left-hand man Rahm Emanuel was three months behind on his property tax payments until talk radio brought it to his attention. He finally paid the $7400 he owed. The state's treasurer says about 13.5% of homeowners in Crook County are delinquent on their taxes — and it's up from previous years.
http://www.wbbm780.com/Rahm-Emanuel-behind-on-p...
He also looks a bit like Sugar Ray.
He just mixed up hood justice with real justice.
He just mixed up hood justice with real justice.
“That guy is like (TV character Steve) Urkel — he's this little, quiet dude,” said a veteran courthouse lawyer, chuckling. “(The victim) is going to hear about this one forever.”
http://bit.ly/9y087W
They all look alike too.
I certainly hope so.
Dozens of prosecutors get their asses kicked each year; it's just not that widely reported.
Why do Black people always look like they want to rob you?
“Also, this guy is no doubt an Obama voter.”
If so, I'm grateful for his vote, along with the 69,438,983 other Americans who voted for me for me for President. Looking forward to doing it again in 2012.
Yes We Can!
press Hams
I think henry hams is a pretty cool guy, eh fights prosecutors and doesn't afraid of anything
“State records show Hams obtained a one-year professional boxing license in 2006. It’s unclear whether he was involved in any bouts, according to a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Professional Regulation, which issues the licenses”
Do some actual research before you just cut and paste – Hams was licensed as a “Second”, a cornerman. He was not licensed as a professional boxer and had no professional fights. Yet another overblown, sensationalistic piece of “journalism” being spewed across the internet.
The judge must not think it was all that serious, since Hams was released on an I-Bond.
http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/06/publ...
I wonder if the ARDC is going to bring a complaint against him
I wonder if the ARDC is going to bring a complaint against him
You mean everyday in the courtroom, by people who are not willing to work for $35k a year.
That's okay. Rahm is a Jew.
Relax dude. We all know that there are a lot of closet racists on this site that use this blog to anonomyously vent their racist feelings (at least Lat shows his identity when he does it). That being said, the guy does look like OJ. That was my first thought when I saw the picture and I'm black. It's not always racism. CTFO.
Answer: Because they want to rob you.
You didn't know? That's all ATL is good for: Exaggerating and sensationalizing stories that would otherwise put you to sleep.
Bystander 1: Boy, that escalated quickly… I mean, that really got out of hand fast.
Bystander 2: It jumped up a notch.
Bystander 1: It did, didn't it?
Henry: Yeah, I choked a guy.
Bystander 1: I saw that. Henry choked a guy. Did you throw a sleeper hold?
Henry: Yeah, there were deputies, and yelling, and I choked a guy with a sleeper hold.
Bystander 1: Henry, I've been meaning to talk to you about that. You should find yourself a safehouse or a relative close by. Lay low for a while, because you're probably wanted for assault and battery.
Very interesting. I would have liked to have seen the fight, to see if the boxer had a ground game. Most boxers typically fight standing up, even in a street fight, but it sounds like this guy shot immediately and had his guy on the ground. Clearly the other guy didn't have any BJJ training b/c out of the guard you can be pretty effective against standard Ground and Pound, depending on your opponent. But it's not surprising at all that a lawyer could fight. Essentially every in-shape guy at my law school trains MMA, and lots of them pick fights at bars for fun.
Very interesting. I would have liked to have seen the fight, to see if the boxer had a ground game. Most boxers typically fight standing up, even in a street fight, but it sounds like this guy shot immediately and had his guy on the ground. Clearly the other guy didn't have any BJJ training b/c out of the guard you can be pretty effective against standard Ground and Pound, depending on your opponent. But it's not surprising at all that a lawyer could fight. Essentially every in-shape guy at my law school trains MMA, and lots of them pick fights at bars for fun.
That should be an ATL bracket: Physcially Toughest Law School (or maybe “Bloodtort”). My pick for finalists would be Yale and Touro. Where
Actually, we're fighting racism by co-opting their language and using it in such an over the top way that it mocks people who hold those beliefs.
Useful shit I learned at NYU: “co-opting”…lets you say anything you want.
I could take that guy.
He's kind of an annoying old hippie, but Kling is a pretty damn good defense lawyer. This case is a dog though.
Nice cut and paste from yesterday's exchange.
Thanks — I've added an update. Silly of me to rely upon a venerable print publication like the Chicago Sun-Times!
The “victim” doesn't seem to appreciate the value of the diversity that this public defender brings to chocking assailants.
When it takes less time to check the primary fucking source documents than it does to shake it before coming out of the john, yeah, “silly” might be applicable. Piss poor attention to detail is another term that comes to mind.
Given what I've seen of WLRK's litigation work product, of course, that does surprise me too much.
Well played. Touro yes, Yale, I don't think so. Probably a lot of BJJ wannabees at YLS, but they could probably be smashed by some good ol' boys at U of Mississippi law easy. Just guessing. I would imagine U. of Denver would be competitve, b/c they train at altitude. But yes, Lat, other guy, DO THE BRACKET!!!
The irony of your post–if I may be blunt–is that you criticized another's “piss por attention to detail” yet omitted the word “not” in your closing sentence. An omission that could have been easily corrected, had you checked your own post for less amount of time than it takes to “shake it before coming out of the john.”
And yes, I just wrote “por” instead of “poor.” But I didn't go about lecturing others on their lack of attention to detail.
People in my office wail on prosecutors all the time. It's no big deal.
-(the original) Public Defender Secure
Blackhawks vs. Flyers = Twinks vs. Bears
“Thanks — I've added an update. Silly of me to rely upon a venerable print publication like the Chicago Sun-Times! “
Well, at least you have more integrity than the Sun Times who, even though the error has been pointed out, has not bothered to correct their faulty reporting.
“But the point remains: Hams knows more than the average attorney about fighting.”
Yeah and Phil Jackson knows more about basketball than Kobe Bryant but you don't see him in the Laker's starting five. Knowledge does not equal ability.
Why are most criminal defense attorneys mentally unstable?! I've met more than a few that have anger management issues, among other mental/emotional issues.
Spot on Captain. Checking the primary source never occured to Lat, because he's lazy. Thank you Lat for dispelling the myth that Asians are all hard-working drones. If Mystal had made this mistake, the Lat worshippers would have been up in arms.
Where the hell do you go to law school?
My post was in reply to the real Captain Obvious that originally pointed out Lat's slopiness. I don't know why it was pushed down.
You’ve encapsulated Obama’s feisty elitism quite well. This is why he’s not getting a second term.
You’ve encapsulated Obama’s feisty elitism quite well. This is why he’s not getting a second term.
State school, T100