After 13 Months, Attorney General Can't Decide Whether to Release Reports on Arrest of Judge's Felon Son

Attorney General Lisa Madigan’s office has taken nearly 14 months to mull over the release of police reports detailing a brutal crime allegedly committed by the son of a Will County judge, but still can’t make a decision on whether to make them public.

Patch first requested the police reports on the arrest of Louis Goode, the son of Judge Carla Alessio Policandriotes, through the Illinois Freedom of Information Act on Oct. 9, 2014. After stalling with an extension, Jerome Nudera of the Will County Sheriff’s Department refused to release the reports.

Nudera said, among other things, that releasing the reports will “obstruct an ongoing criminal investigation” and possibly deprive Goode of a fair trial.

On Oct. 23, 2014, Patch appealed to the attorney general’s public access counselor. After nearly a year without an answer, Patch inquired about the appeal and received a response the same day from Assistant Attorney General Benjamin Reed.

“Please be advised that the file is currently still under review by our office, and thus no determination has yet been issued on this matter,” Reed said. “Due to our extensive caseload and our review process, we cannot give you an estimate as to when a determination will be issued concerning your case. When we do issue a determination, a copy will be provided to both you and the public body.”

Patch reached out again Thursday but received no response.

Goode, 30, was jailed in October 2014 on charges of unlawful restraint, aggravated domestic battery and domestic battery. Goode was released from custody after Grundy County Judge Robert Marsaglia reduced his bond from $50,000 to $20,000, and his stepfather, Will County Sheriff’s Detective Tony Policandriotes, bailed him out.

Marsaglia was assigned the case because Goode’s mother is a Will County judge.

The night before he was arrested and into the following morning, Goode allegedly battered and harassed his girlfriend, 30-year-old Tanya Brandolino, at one point locking her in the trunk of a car before letting her out and heading to bed.

In the morning, Judge Alessio Policandriotes dropped by the Joliet house where Goode and Brandolino, as well their son, her child and her parents, were living, police said. While it’s not clear whether Alessio Policandriotes saw any of the alleged attack, Brandolino accused the judge of looking on as her son threatened to kill her.

“She got out of the car and said Lou get in the car,” Brandolino said in a petition for a protective order against Goode.

Incidentally, Judge Marsaglia put the entire case file for the protective order under wraps in December 2014, essentially making the matter disappear from public view.

In the now sealed petition, Brandolino went on to say that Goode “then threw the phone into the garage (and) he said in front of his mother I’m going to kill you you’ll never get custody of your son better get a good lawyer.”

Judge Alessio Policandriotes then drove her son to the first — and only — day of his new job at the Will County courthouse, where he had been hired to work as an office assistant. Goode managed to land the job despite being on probation for pleading guilty to a felony cocaine case in Missouri.

Prosecutors in Missouri filed to revoke Goode’s probation there. He faces a possible seven year prison sentence.

Goode is due to appear in Callaway County, Missouri, court later this month.

Earlier this month, Goode’s attorney, Edward Jaquays, special prosecutor Charles Colburn and Judge Marsaglia all met together behind closed doors for a secret discussion of a possible plea deal for Goode. After the meeting, Colburn declined to discuss what was said.