Nerheim's November Opponent Criticized Him on Calusinski Case Before Primary Win

The Democratic Lake County State’s Attorney candidate who voiced open criticism of incumbent officeholder Michael Nerheim for how he’s handled the case of a former daycare worker serving a 31-year sentence for the death of a toddler will get to face Nerheim in November’s general election.

Complete but unofficial Lake County election results show Gurnee lawyer Matt Stanton acquiring 52.28 percent of the vote in Tuesday’s Democratic primary. His lone opponent, Michael J. Perillo Jr., tallied 47.72 percent.

During a debate between Stanton and Perillo a few months back, Stanton criticized Nerheim for opposing a new trial for Melissa Calusinski, who in 2011 was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of a 16-month-old boy at the Lincolnshire day care where she worked. The finding of new X-rays that show the boy did not suffer a skull fracture caused Lake County Coroner Thomas Rudd to change the manner of death from “homicide” to “undetermined” and propel Calusinski’s defense team to petition for a new trial, which is still in the court system.

Nerheim has opposed a new trial for Calusinski, claiming the X-rays are not new, and that the evidence had already been argued during Calusinski’s first trial.

“There seems to be at least a chance there is new evidence that might be exculpatory,” Stanton said. “And why is Mike Nerheim’s office opposing a new trial if there’s a chance this person could be exonerated?”

Stanton - an adjunct professor at Kent College of Law who has been practicing criminal and family law for more than a decade - told the Lake County News-Sun Tuesday night he believes people in Lake County are “tired of controversial prosecutions.”

Nerheim, a Republican, was unopposed in his primary.