CTA must pay $3M to woman convicted of killing, dismembering landlord

CHICAGO - The Chicago Transit Authority must pay nearly $3 million to a woman who was struck by a bus, even though jurors were blocked at trial from learning the woman also was facing likely the rest of her life in prison for murdering and dismembering her landlord, a state appeals court has ruled.

On Dec. 31, a three-justice panel of the Illinois First District Appellate Court refused the CTA's bid to undo the verdict in favor of Sandra Kolalou, who is named in court documents as "Sandra White," a moniker the court allowed because her lawyers argued jurors may not side with Kolalou were they to learn of her highly public murder case moving forward under her legal surname.

In the ruling, the appellate justices urged readers to understand the decision "should not be read as an endorsement of White’s conduct."

"The troubling result here is compelled by the law, and nothing in the opinion excuses or minimizes the nature of White’s actions," the justices wrote.

The decision was authored by Justice Carl A. Walker. He was joined in the ruling by justices Michael A. Hyman and Celia G. Gamrath.

The decision was issued as an unpublished order issued under Supreme Court Rule 23, limiting its use as precedent.

The decision upheld rulings from Cook County Circuit Judge Robert F. Harris, who had denied the CTA's requests to toss the verdict or secure a new trial.

Kolalou had filed suit against the CTA and a bus driver in 2019, about a year after she was allegedly struck by a CTA bus while crossing Clark Street at Howard Street on Chicago's far North Side.

Kolalou has been represented in the case by attorney David B. Nemeroff, of Chicago.

According to her lawsuit, Kolalou claimed to have suffered significant injuries in the accident, allegedly leaving her with sever back and leg pain, which she later described in testimony as "10 out of 10" that "prevented her from leading a normal life."

While the lawsuit was pending, Kolalou was arrested and charged with the murder and dismemberment of her landlord, Frances Walker. According to published reports, Kolalou was charged after police discovered Walker's dismembered body parts in late 2022 in a freezer at the Westridge Boarding home on North Washtenaw Avenue, which Walker owned and operated as a boarding house for single women.

Walker also lived in the boarding house and Kolalou was a tenant.

According to published reports, Walker served Kolalou with an eviction notice around the time Walker was reported missing.

Kolalou was convicted of Walker's murder and sentenced to 58 years in prison.

Kolalou has maintained her innocence, and her attorneys have indicated they will appeal the conviction and sentence.

However, while the criminal case against Kolalou was pending, Judge Harris refused the CTA's request to put her civil case on hold.

As part of those proceedings, Nemeroff asked the judge to allow Kolalou to proceed under the name "Sandra White" so jurors couldn't learn on their own about the grisly murder charges she also faced at the same time.

Ultimately, a Cook County jury awarded Kolalou/"White" nearly $3 million for her alleged injuries.

The CTA responded to the verdict with a series of post-trial motions, asserting the trial was biased in favor of Kolalou/"White."

They argued, for instance, that the judge improperly allowed them to show jurors photos and videos posted by Kolalou to social media from 2019-2022 showing her "cliff-jumping, swimming with the dolphins, roller-skating, playing tennis, wearing high heels, and traveling to far-away destinations, such as Egypt, South Africa, and Mexico" -- all activities that the CTA argued should be impossible with the injuries Kolalou/"White" claimed she suffered in the bus incident.

Further, the CTA argued the judge improperly allowed Kolalou to testify from jail, where she was being held after being charged with murder, but in such a manner that it did not reveal she was incarcerated.

And the CTA said the judge improperly refused to instruct jurors that "Sandra White's" absence from the courtroom during the trial and her need to remotely record a deposition rather than testify in person was because she was facing a murder trial, and had nothing to do with the accident with the bus five years earlier.

The CTA further asserted it should be given further proceedings over the question of how much money jurors can reasonably award to someone who faces decades in prison for murder.

The judge, however, rejected those arguments, agreeing with Nemeroff that the murder charges were irrelevant to her civil case.

And the judge determined that, while he was "somewhat surprised" at the amount awarded by jurors, the verdict "did not shock" nor was it unjustified, based on the evidence presented at trial.

The judge rejected attempts to reduce the verdict.

The CTA then appealed, again arguing the judge had wrongly denied them a fair trial, in pretending to jurors that Kolalou/"White" was not being sentenced to 58 years in prison for murder and had been engaged in what appeared to be a healthy, active and unrestricted lifestyle, up until the moment she was charged with Frances Walker's murder and dismemberment.

Appellate justices, however, said the CTA fell short of the legal standard needed to undo the verdict, agreeing that the verdict was justified "based on the available evidence."

"At the time of the civil trial, White had not been convicted, and the pending charges were irrelevant to the issues in this civil action," Justice Walker and his colleagues wrote in the appellate ruling.

"The circuit court therefore acted within its discretion in finding the proffered evidence more prejudicial than probative. We agree that the jury properly did not hear evidence of unrelated criminal charges because, as a matter of law, such evidence was inadmissible."

Judge Robert F. Harris has served as a Cook County judge since the Illinois Supreme Court appointed him to the bench in 2017.

Before become a judge, Harris worked exclusively in the Cook County Public Guardian's Office, including serving as Cook County Public Guardian from 2004-2017.

He was most recently reelected in 2024. His term expires in 2030, when he will face a retention vote.