Former Prosecutor

A previous edition of this guide said Judge Brosnahan was part of the Probate Division. She is part of the Criminal Division. Injustice Watch regrets the error.

Judge since: 2000

Brosnahan is currently a supervising judge in the Criminal Division. She previously worked as a career prosecutor in the Cook County State’s Attorney Office and became supervisor of the felony trial division in 1997. She was elected judge in 2000. Brosnahan has worked in the Criminal Division since 2005, but had previous assignments in the First Municipal District.

Bar Association ratings

This year: The CCL and CBA rated her qualified and the ISBA recommended her for retention.

Past: In 2012, Brosnahan was found qualified by the CBA, CCL, and ISBA.

Notable: Brosnahan was initially assigned to preside over the case of three police officers accused of covering up the November 2014 Chicago Police shooting of black teenager Laquan McDonald. She recused herself from the case with no explanation, possibly because her husband Kriston Kato was sent to the scene of the shooting as a police union representative, according to the Chicago Tribune. At least 50 men have accused Kato of physically coercing them into confessions, according to lawsuits and department complaints reviewed by the Washington Post. Three years ago Brosnahan declined to resentence David Biro on one of three life sentences he received as a juvenile offender for the 1990s slaying of a Winnetka couple and their unborn child. Among Criminal Division judges who have heard more than 1,000 cases in the past six years, Brosnahan ranks in the middle on sentencing severity.