McFarland's Lawsuit Against O'Dekirk, Inspector General Falls Apart

JOLIET, IL — In a setback for former Joliet City Councilman James McFarland, an out of town presiding judge announced his decision to dismiss McFarland's March defamation lawsuit that he filed against Joliet Mayor Bob O'Dekirk and city inspector general Sean Connolly in the days leading up to the mayor's race.

Wednesday, Grundy County Judge Gary Dobbs issued his ruling, bringing McFarland's defamation lawsuit to an abrupt end while the case remained in its infancy stages. No pretrial depositions had taken place.

McFarland's lawsuit was seeking a jury verdict in excess of $50,000. His attorney John Schrock told Joliet Patch back in March, "Why were they investigating McFarland? All McFarland did was call Dickinson on October 23 (2020) and tell him, don't resign. McFarland is no longer involved in anything in Joliet. There was no reason for them to say that my client was part of a criminal conspiracy. This whole thing is fabricated by Dickinson. For what reason? I don't know."

Attorney Patrick Walsh, who represents Connolly, told Joliet Patch he was pleased with the judge's decision.

"I believed that it would be dismissed from day one of the case," Walsh remarked.

Joliet's former mayor said he was not in court for Wednesday's decision by the judge, but O'Dekirk said he was confident the case would go his way.

"The whole thing was ridiculous, and it's typical of McFarland, he thinks he can lie his way out of everything," O'Dekirk told Joliet Patch on Wednesday. "He's lying to everyone about what his role was in the Dickinson matter and, instead, he's accusing me and the inspector general of doing something improper when we never did anything.

"His pleadings were false, and the whole basis didn't exist, but I don't think Jim cares about the truth. He never has."

Walsh said that McFarland, along with McFarland's lawyer, John Schrock of Plainfield, were in Will County Courtroom 1003 for Wednesday's decision.

"These were public employees fulfilling their duties pursuant to the law," Walsh told Joliet Patch following Wednesday's legal victory. "The motion to dismiss was granted, and the entire complaint was dismissed."

Joliet Patch previously reported that Connolly's March 1 inspector general's report recommended "the Joliet City Council publicly condemn James McFarland's role in this conspiracy."

Connolly wrote that McFarland attended the Nov. 1, 2020 meeting at then-Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner's house and "the purpose of this meeting was to conspire to falsely accuse Joliet Mayor Robert O'Dekirk with intimidation of Donald Dickinson.

"James McFarland lied about being told by (someone) that a female had sent a picture of Donald Dickinson's genital area to (councilman) Joseph Clement, who then sent the picture to Mayor O'Dekirk," Connolly concluded.

Connolly, a Westmont lawyer in private practice, was not able to attend Wednesday's courtroom proceedings because he is on active military duty, Walsh explained.

As for the inspector general's role in investigating McFarland's behavior, Walsh had this to say about Connolly: "He always acted with integrity, and he didn't do anything wrong in the performance of his duties."

As for McFarland, Joliet Patch broke the news on July 19 that Joliet's former mayor retained a Palos Heights law firm to file a federal RICO lawsuit against former Joliet Police Chief Al Roechner, Roechner's wife, Nancy, current Elwood Police Commander Marc Reid and a host of others including Shaw Media, the newspaper company that publishes The Herald-News in Joliet.

The federal lawsuit also named former Joliet Herald-News editor Joseph Hosey, who also previously worked for Patch, plus current Joliet City Councilman Pat Mudron and former City Councilman Jim McFarland as defendants.

Related Joliet Patch coverage of McFarland:

Ex-Councilman McFarland Files Defamation Suit Vs. Mayor O'Dekirk

McFarland Refused To Speak With Inspector General: Attorney

'This Is A Big Black Eye On The City Of Joliet,' Jan Quillman Declares

Ex-Joliet Mayor Files Federal Suit: Roechner, Reid Among 8 Defendants

'Wrongly Accused' Joe Clement Blasts Ex-Joliet Chief, Deputy Chief