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Cook County judge reassigned from Domestic Violence Division after criticism about handling of case

Cook County Domestic Violence judge reassigned amid controversy over case
Cook County Domestic Violence judge reassigned amid controversy over case 00:36

CHICAGO (CBS) -- A judge will be transferred out of the Domestic Violence Division of Cook County Circuit Court at his own request, following harsh criticism after the judge released a man who later allegedly killed his wife.

Judge Thomas Nowinski will be transferred effective Tuesday, Jan. 21, from the Domestic Violence Division to the Municipal Division of Cook County Circuit Court, according to the Office of the Chief Judge. This transfer came at Judge Nowinski's own request and that of Domestic Violence Division Presiding Judge Judith Rice.

There had been calls for months to reassign Nowinski after the stabbing that killed Lacramioara Beldie, 54. Beldie was stabbed to death in broad daylight in November in the 5600 block of West Leland Avenue, and an off-duty Chicago police detective was shot while trying to stop the attack.

The victim's husband, Constantin Beldie, 57, escaped, but was later found dead inside a vehicle a block away, after taking his own life.

The off-duty detective who was injured also fired a shot and struck the suspected attacker. The Civilian Office of Police Accountability on Thursday released documents and video from the incident.

It turned out there were numerous attempts by Lacramioara Beldie to get help before the attack, and repeated failures to protect the wife and mother from her accused abuser.

But in October, Constantin was charged with aggravated domestic battery and attempted kidnapping, after he allegedly approached her in alleyway and beat and dragged her to his car, where she screamed until she escaped. According to court records, evidence in that case included a witness and surveillance video.

Prosecutors in that case asked Judge Nowinski to order Constantin held in Cook County Jail while he awaited trial, but Nowinski denied that motion, and instead released him on electronic monitoring.

In a news release Thursday night, the Chief Judge's office said Nowinski had ruled that prosecutors had not met their burden showing that there was clear and convincing evidence that Constantin Beldie was a threat to someone's safety to the point where he would need to be detained, so Nowinski ordered him fitted for a GPS monitoring device.

The Chief Judge's office said the Cook County State's Attorney's office provided incomplete information to the Judge Nowinski, and prosecutors never objected to a presentation by a defense attorney claiming that Constantin Beldie had no prior history of domestic violence or violating the terms of a no-contact order.

The Chief Judge's office also took to task a GPS technician after a violation of Constantin Beldie's exclusion zone on Oct. 10 was not brought to the court's attention.

Nowinski is the same judge who denied an emergency protective order in another high-profile case.

Back in March, 11-year-old Jayden Perkins was stabbed to death trying to protect his mom, just weeks after she tried and failed to get an order of protection against her accused abuser, Crosetti Brand, who is charged in Jayden's murder.

Nowinski denied that protection order, noting Brand was in prison at the time. However, the Illinois Prisoner Review Board granted Brand parole in February, allowing him to be released from prison a day before the attack. At the time, the board was not aware that Perkins' mother had been seeking an order of protection against Brand.

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