A Cook County judge has given new life to a bid for exoneration for James Bannister, who has twice been convicted for a 1989 double-murder near the Illinois Institute of Technology, setting the stage for a hearing that could see the former head of the state’s attorney’s wrongful conviction unit on the witness stand.
Bannister was sentenced to life in prison for the killing of Dan Williams and Thomas Kaufman, and has served about 20 years so far.
