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	Kelly Prosecutor Tough, Popular Boliker Was Ready for Trial Even after Delivering 3rd Baby By Azam Ahmed Chicago Tribune Metromix September 5, 2007 http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/news/celebrity/mmx-prosecutorsep05,0,1286913.story?coll=mmx-celebrity_heds Over the summer, Shauna Boliker, the head of the sex crimes division for the Cook County state's attorney's office, was driving to work when she got a flat tire. Eight months' pregnant, she changed the flat in 95-degree heat and then continued on to the Criminal Courts Building at 26th Street and California Avenue. "I've never seen anyone with more energy in my life," said Kelly Navarro, a co-worker. True to form, Boliker had been expecting to lead the prosecution at R. Kelly's trial less than three weeks after giving birth to her third son, but a spokesman for Circuit Judge Vincent Gaughan announced Tuesday that the trial would be indefinitely postponed on orders from Boliker's doctor. Boliker's desire to take on such an arduous task as a high-profile, monthlong trial soon after delivering a baby illustrates the dedication she has shown during a nearly two-decade career as a prosecutor, former and current colleagues say. In a way, she is a female version of U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald, legendary for his work ethic, but Fitzgerald is single and childless. Colleagues say Boliker has been known to go home after a full day's work to put her boys to bed and then return to work late into the night at the Criminal Courts Building. "It's not unusual to get a voice message ... from her work phone at 2 a.m.," said Maria McCarthy, an assistant state's attorney who has known Boliker for almost 20 years. As head of the sex-crimes unit, Boliker has one of the more grim assignments among county prosecutors, yet she is widely regarded as among the friendliest lawyers in the courthouse. Her recent high-profile cases included the prosecution of Rev. Daniel McCormack, a Chicago priest who pleaded guilty in July to molesting five boys and was sentenced to 5 years in prison. "She's a professional, and I think that's the highest compliment you can pay to a prosecutor," said Robert Loeb, one of McCormack's lawyers. Circuit Judge Joseph J. Urso, who spent almost eight years with Boliker working as an attorney in his courtroom, recalled how she once chipped a tooth after falling at home. Too busy with a murder trial to deal with her dental problem, she used adhesive to hold the tooth in place. But during closing arguments, her tooth flew out and nearly hit a juror. "And she wasn't flustered at all," said Urso, now presiding judge at the county courthouse in Rolling Meadows. "She continued with the arguments with the tooth missing from her mouth. And she won the case."
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