Defense attorney, Jed Stone (left) meets with former Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd prior to attending the Dec. 11 status hearing in the county courthouse. (Photo by Gregory Harutunian/for Chronicle Media)

A third, and different, special prosecutor entered his appearance of record in the perjury trial of former Lake County Coroner Dr. Thomas Rudd, during a Dec. 11 status hearing before Lake County Circuit Court Judge Victoria Rossetti.

Bernard Murray was assigned by the Illinois State’s Attorney’s Appellate Prosecutor’s Office to replace Springfield attorney, Charles Zalar, who resigned his post due to health reasons.

A Jan. 11 date has been set for pretrial motions, and a subsequent Jan. 16 date to begin the actual jury trial. Rudd was indicted by the Lake County Grand Jury Feb. 15 on five counts of perjury, stemming from five pages of nominating petitions for the coroner post in the April 2016 primary election, where he signed as the petition circulator in error. Rudd was slated for the electoral board hearing, was informed of the error, and withdrew his candidacy.

“The Jan. 11 session will address several motions where the defense is seeking discovery, one of the defense attorneys is possibly withdrawing because of a potential conflict of interest, and the five-count indictment, which may include additional materials,” said Murray, following the hearing. “I’ve practiced in the Chicagoland area, in two districts, and was assigned to this case. The former prosecutor (Zalar) has health issues currently.”

Zalar was appointed in mid-September to replace the first special prosecutor, Brian J. Towne, the former state’s attorney for La Salle County, who was indicted on official misconduct charges.

The special prosecutor position for the Rudd criminal case, filed under docket # 17CF473, was requested by Lake County State’s Attorney Michael Nerheim to negate the appearance of impropriety or a potential conflict of interest, after he presented the charges to the Lake County Grand Jury.

The charges stemmed from five pages of petitions filed in Dec. 2015, which had an objection filed against them. Prior to a Lake County Electoral Board of Review hearing, Rudd with his candidacy, after being informed of the error in signing as the circulator. The trial was originally to begin Oct. 23, but delayed with the special prosecutor replacement.

He subsequently filed as an Independent candidate in 2016, and obtained more than 14,300 signatures, which were denied through hearings with the county’s Electoral Board of Review, the circuit court, appellate level, and the Illinois Supreme Court. He then mounted a write-in campaign that garnered more than 8,500 votes.

Jed Stone, of Waukegan-based Stone and Associates, Inc., has said repeatedly that the charges are “politically-motivated.” Also coming to Rudd’s defense team were Burt Odelson, of Evergreen Park-based Odelson & Sterk Ltd., who had represented the opposition against Rudd’s petitions in 2016, throughout the entire denial process, as well as Ross Seclor, who represented Rudd through the same hearings.

“We are open to negotiation, but nothing has transpired,” said Stone.

The “politically charged” atmosphere surrounding Rudd’s trial has been allegedly tied to his changes in the manner and cause of death in several high-profile Lake County cases, relying on forensic and scientific evidence: Darrin Hanna, who died from injuries inflicted by the North Chicago Police Department, the death of Benjamin Kingan whose caregiver Mellissa Calusinski was charged with first-degree murder, and the death investigation of Fox Lake police Lieutenant Joseph Gliniewicz.

Rudd refused to comment on the proceedings.

–Third special prosecutor assigned to Rudd trial–