It was shortly before 2 a.m. on the eve of the NATO summit when the criminal-defense lawyer emerged from a West Side police station where three purported anarchists had just been charged with making four Molotov cocktails to firebomb political targets.
Prosecutors would not outline their terrorism case until hours later at a news conference. But outside that police station, Sarah Gelsomino, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, stepped in front of the bright TV lights, pulled out a legal pad and immediately began attacking the state's case as a trumped-up, politically motivated intimidation campaign by the city.
"Charging these people who are here to peacefully protest against NATO for terrorism when in reality the police have been terrorizing activists in Chicago is absolutely outrageous," Gelsomino said as demonstrators held up smartphones and streamed the statement live to YouTube.
With that, Gelsomino solidified her position as the public face of an aggressive effort to undercut the terrorism case against the out-of-town men known to supporters as the NATO 3. Two others were also charged with explosives-related offenses stemming from the same investigation.
In the following days, Gelsomino and her partners at the National Lawyers Guild took the extraordinary step of calling on activists to try to publicly identify two individuals believed to be police informants or undercover officers - known on the street as "Mo" and "Gloves" - who infiltrated the group and led to the arrests.
The Guild also emailed a news release with a photo of "Mo," while acknowledging that he was possibly a Chicago police officer working undercover. Gelsomino was one of two contacts on the release.
In her efforts, some legal analysts said, Gelsomino walked a fine line between advocating passionately for a client and unethical behavior that could endanger undercover police or law enforcement informants. Experts called it a highly unusual if not unprecedented way to begin defending a case.
Retired Cook County Criminal Court Judge David Erickson, who teaches at Chicago-Kent College of Law, said criticism of the prosecution case - from calling wiretaps illegal to decrying the use of undercover cops or informants - is fair game. But he said identifying those inside an investigation is dangerous and not necessary so early in the case.
"It is not something I would teach a young lawyer to do," said Erickson, also a former top county prosecutor. "I would expect more out of members of the bar. My job is to defend my client. My job is not to put somebody else's life at risk."
Gelsomino was not available for comment on the strategy on Friday, but Michael Deutsch, her co-counsel, said they have every right to thoroughly investigate the charges against their clients and determine the identities of informants and their interactions with the protest group.
Prosecutors would not outline their terrorism case until hours later at a news conference. But outside that police station, Sarah Gelsomino, an attorney with the National Lawyers Guild, stepped in front of the bright TV lights, pulled out a legal pad and immediately began attacking the state's case as a trumped-up, politically motivated intimidation campaign by the city.
"Charging these people who are here to peacefully protest against NATO for terrorism when in reality the police have been terrorizing activists in Chicago is absolutely outrageous," Gelsomino said as demonstrators held up smartphones and streamed the statement live to YouTube.
With that, Gelsomino solidified her position as the public face of an aggressive effort to undercut the terrorism case against the out-of-town men known to supporters as the NATO 3. Two others were also charged with explosives-related offenses stemming from the same investigation.
In the following days, Gelsomino and her partners at the National Lawyers Guild took the extraordinary step of calling on activists to try to publicly identify two individuals believed to be police informants or undercover officers - known on the street as "Mo" and "Gloves" - who infiltrated the group and led to the arrests.
The Guild also emailed a news release with a photo of "Mo," while acknowledging that he was possibly a Chicago police officer working undercover. Gelsomino was one of two contacts on the release.
In her efforts, some legal analysts said, Gelsomino walked a fine line between advocating passionately for a client and unethical behavior that could endanger undercover police or law enforcement informants. Experts called it a highly unusual if not unprecedented way to begin defending a case.
Retired Cook County Criminal Court Judge David Erickson, who teaches at Chicago-Kent College of Law, said criticism of the prosecution case - from calling wiretaps illegal to decrying the use of undercover cops or informants - is fair game. But he said identifying those inside an investigation is dangerous and not necessary so early in the case.
"It is not something I would teach a young lawyer to do," said Erickson, also a former top county prosecutor. "I would expect more out of members of the bar. My job is to defend my client. My job is not to put somebody else's life at risk."
Gelsomino was not available for comment on the strategy on Friday, but Michael Deutsch, her co-counsel, said they have every right to thoroughly investigate the charges against their clients and determine the identities of informants and their interactions with the protest group.
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