After Court Win, Glasgow Faces Off Against Carlson

Fresh off his victory in the Christopher Vaughn murder trial, Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow drew applause from some of the attendees at the Grand Haven candidates’ event Thursday — but opponent Dave Carlson had some harsh words for his former boss.

Carlson, 41, accused Glasgow of gloating over his recent high-profile convictions of Vaughn and, two weeks ago, Drew Peterson.

The Republican from Plainfield vowed to bring the state’s attorney’s office “back to basics” if he's elected on Nov. 6.

“Take out the media,” Carlson said. “Take out the politics. We shouldn’t gloat. We shouldn’t pound our chests. We shouldn’t act out for the media.

“ … We won’t have that in my administration,” Carlson added, after taking a swipe at Glasgow’s office for employing two full-time media staffers.

Carlson, who left the state’s attorney’s office in 2005 to start his own law firm, said he’s been endorsed by the Joliet, Bolingbrook, Manhattan and New Lenox police departments, along with the Will County Sheriff’s Department.

“To me, that speaks volumes,” he said.

Glasgow attended the Sept. 20 candidates’ event hours after a jury took just 50 minutes to return a verdict in the quadruple murder case: guilty on all four counts.

“I’ve never been prouder to be your state’s attorney as today,” Glasgow said. “This is a case I worked from the scene, where I saw the children in that Ford [Expedition], until today.”

He cited his lengthy experience as state’s attorney as an advantage over his opponent.

“He’s never prosecuted a murder trial,” Glasgow said. “I prosecuted my first murder trial in 1984 and I’ve never lost one.”

Glasgow also touted his initiatives to advocate for domestic violence victims, from supporting the Take Back the Night campaign to establishing a program with Joliet Junior College to provide education — and a way out — for victims.

“These two cases are the most prominent domestic violence cases in the country and maybe the world,” he said of the Peterson and Vaughn trials. “Everyone said we couldn’t win the Peterson case … I’ve never doubted my ability to do that. Everyone knew what he did and he went on national television and he mocked us.”

Glasgow went on to tell the crowd about other initiatives he’s started as state’s attorney, such as the drug court program — which offers treatment as an alternative to incarceration — and his office’s child advocacy center and Internet child pornography unit.

Glasgow served as state’s attorney from 1992 to 2000 and 2004 to present.