By Beth Hundsdorfer
News-Democrat
October 7, 2011
http://www.bnd.com/2011/10/07/1890532/lloyd-cueto-will-retire-as-st.html
St. Clair County Circuit Judge Lloyd Cueto will keep a campaign promise, but he won't make any more.
"When I ran in 2006, I promised that I would serve my entire term and I will," Cueto said on Thursday when he announced that he would retire instead of seeking another term on the bench in 2012.
Cueto, 60, has served 18 years on the bench handling major civil and criminal cases on the fourth floor of the county building.
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| St. Clair County Judge Lloyd Cueto, who announced he will retire at the end of his term. - Tim Vizer/BND |
He isn't sure what he will do after his retirement.
Cueto caught political heat in 2006 when he decided he would run in an open race -- instead of trying to run for retention and seek 60 percent voter approval.
Cueto handled medical malpractice, major civil and class-action lawsuits the areas of law most criticized by a pro-business group that nicknamed St. Clair County a top "judicial hellhole" in the country.
In his first two years as a judge, Cueto presided over 18 murder trials, five of them seeking the death penalty.
He remembered while on the bench in those early years, he was fidgeting with his foot and bumped the panic button.
"Bailiffs came in from the front and from the back like a SWAT team," Cueto recalled. "I didn't know that was there. "
Cueto received his bachelor's degree in political science from McKendree College. He received his law degree from St. Louis University.
"It has been an honor to serve as a circuit judge in the 20th Judicial Circuit," Cueto wrote in his letter to Illinois Supreme Court Justice Thomas Kilbride announcing his decision not to seek another term on the bench.
"I am grateful to many but my deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Patti, and son, Lloyd Michael."
Law degrees run in the Cueto family. Cueto's son was admitted to practice law in 2007. Two of the judge's brothers have juris doctorates. Chris Cueto, a Belleville lawyer, ran his brother's judicial campaign in 2006. Amiel Cueto, a one-time powerful plaintiff's lawyer, was convicted in 1997 of federal obstruction of justice and conspiracy charges. He continues to appeal that conviction.
Judge Cueto presided over a six-week trial when the St. Clair County Sheriff's Department and the Centreville Police Department sued Ford Motor Co., the maker of the Crown Victoria Police Interceptor, in 2002. The suit alleged that in rear-end crashes, the axle breaks and punctures the gas tank, causing a fire hazard. Ford won.
Cueto also made legal history in a 15-page decision he wrote in the case of a former altar boy who claimed he was abused by a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Belleville. Cueto found James Wisniewski could pursue a suit against if the diocese engaged in "fraudulent concealment," the intentional failure to disclose facts regarding sexual abuse by priests.
Cueto presided over the trial in 2008 that resulted in a $5 million verdict for Wisniewski.
The jury's verdict was upheld by the 5th District Appellate Court and Illinois Supreme Court.
In August, the Catholic Diocese of Belleville ended the nine-year legal battle and delivered $6.3 million to Wisniewski.
Cueto's last day on the job will be Dec. 3, 2012. People who are interested in replacing him will have to run in the 2012 primary and general elections.
Contact reporter Beth Hundsdorfer at bhundsdorfer@bnd.com or 239-2570.
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