1. Downstate judge sets $1.4 million in hate crimes
case
By John Flynn Rooney Law Bulletin staff writer
A group of Chicago lawyers said they became involved in a Kankakee County hate
crimes lawsuit that resulted in a $1.44 million judgment because of the severity of
the attack on three young black men.
Judge Kendall O. Wenzelman of the 21st Circuit, who sits in Kankakee, recently
entered the judgment, including $240,000 in compensatory damages and $1.2
million in punitive damages to Vantis Coiley, his brother, Isaiah Coiley, and their
cousin, Kenyon Coiley, said Pamela G. Smith, a partner with Katten, Muchin,
Rosenman LLP in Chicago. The judgment came following a default proceeding
where the plaintiffs' attorneys proved damages, she said.
Lawyers with the Katten, Muchin firm teamed with Elizabeth Shuman-Moore,
director of the Hate Crime Project with the Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil
Rights Under Law Inc., to represent the plaintiffs in the case.
The Chicago Lawyers' Committee typically represents victims of hate crimes in the
Chicago area, Shuman-Moore said.
"We decided to become involved because of the extreme racism, brutality and
cruelty," Shuman-Moore said.
The lawsuit stemmed from a February 2005 attack on the Coileys at night outside
a home in Manteno.
The Coileys went to the Manteno home to visit a female friend, who when they
knocked on the door told them it wasn't a good time to visit, said Laura A. Brake,
a Katten, Muchin associate. Then a large group of white men came out of the
house using racial slurs and began viciously attacking the Coileys, she said.
The Coileys, all residents of Kankakee County, were attacked with knives,
hammers and bricks, Brake said. The three Coiley men, who were seriously
injured, managed to escape in their damaged vehicle and went to the nearest
hospital, she said.
The attack rendered Vantis Coiley unconscious and required 100 stitches on his
scalp, Smith said.
The Coiley men have suffered and continue suffering physical and emotional
injuries stemming from the attack, said lawyers for the plaintiffs.
The defendants named in the lawsuit were Larry Delawder, Jeremiah Spainhour,
Jason Stinebring and Richard Rybolt. Confidential out of court settlements were

2. previously reached with two other defendants, Shuman-Moore said.
One of the defendants who settled testified at the recent court proceeding that
after Delawder took the keys to the Coileys' vehicle inside the house, the
defendant returned the keys to the Coileys so they could leave, Smith said.
The four defendants were each found liable for a quarter of the total amount
equaling $480,000 a piece, Brake said. The case is Kenyon Coiley, et al. v. Larry
Delawder, et al., No. 07 L 16.
"We are going to look into whether any of these [defendants] have assets," Brake
said. "If any of them have assets, we will try to attach them to the judgment."
A jury convicted Stinebring of felony charges in 2005, Brake said. The following
year, Delawder and Spainhour pleaded guilty to felony charges stemming from the
attack. Rybolt did not face criminal charges, she said.
"The judgment shows the severity of the horrendous event and provides
deterrence for such racially motivated violence," Brake said. "While no dollar
amount can erase the traumatic events of that night, at least the judgment
reflects the public condemnation of the defendants' crimes and validation of the
Coileys' suffering."
Katten, Muchin associates Monica J. Mosby and Brian J. Poronsky also represent
the Coileys on a pro bono basis in the case.
jrooney@lbpc.com