CHICAGO _ Two of Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx's top deputies _ the office's chief ethics officer and the head of the Conviction Integrity Unit _ have submitted resignations and will be leaving next month.
Former federal prosecutor April Perry, who was brought on as Foxx's chief ethics officer, was involved in the case involving actor Jussie Smollett, but her departure is unrelated to the firestorm that followed the recent dismissal of charges against Smollett, according to an office spokeswoman.
Foxx has said she consulted with Perry when considering what to do after communicating with a relative of Smollett's at a time when the actor was being treated as a victim of a hate crime. Smollett later was suspected of staging a hoax attack on himself.
Perry sent a Feb. 13 email notifying staffers that Foxx was "recused" from the case. Foxx has since said she did not recuse herself in the formal legal sense, since that would involve withdrawing her entire office and asking for the appointment of a special prosecutor.
An email sent to staffers, obtained by the Chicago Tribune, said Perry is leaving to become general counsel to a tech startup.
"She has been a valuable resource to the office in ensuring that we operate with the highest levels of integrity and professionalism," Foxx said in a statement Thursday evening.
Mark Rotert is retiring after about two years leading the Conviction Integrity Unit, which reviews alleged wrongful convictions. That office oversaw the dismissal of about 70 wrongful convictions, according to a statement from Foxx.
His tenure saw the county's first mass exoneration, in November 2017, when 15 men whose cases were connected to disgraced ex-Chicago police Sgt. Ronald Watts had their convictions dropped.
The resignations of both Rotert and Perry are effective May 3.
