MARK KIESLING: Glasgow's dismissal no shock, but not justice either

Technically, I guess, a federal judge came down on the right side of the law by dismissing a wrongful arrest lawsuit against Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow.

Glasgow filed charges in October 2010 against Lynwood police officer Brian Dorian, accusing him of killing one man and seriously wounding another on Oct. 5, 2010, near Beecher.

Although Dorian remained jailed and had his photo splashed over every Chicago TV network and newspaper, eventually he was proved innocent and unceremoniously released without charges.

A year later, he filed wrongful arrest charges against Glasgow, Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas and a Will County detective.

Now, U.S. District Judge James Zagel (the man who oversaw the trial of former Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich) on Thursday knocked Glasgow out of the lawsuit, saying he had immunity by virtue of his office as state's attorney.

On one hand, the law makes sense. Otherwise you'd have every mope and dope suing the state's attorney for this, that and the other thing, costing taxpayers obscene amounts of money.

And yet, who's responsible for perhaps irreparably damaging Dorian's career? I've talked to Dorian a number of times since the arrest, and although he is bitter it does not appear he is any more bitter than he should be given the circumstances.

Nothing like being a cop accused of murder. There are, I am sure, people who still think he did it despite the fatal shooting of a man, during an Orland Park robbery, whose gun, vehicle and description matched Dorian's.

In Lake County (Indiana, that is), he is supposed to have crossed the border and shot a farmer near Lowell. Cops questioned the wounded farmer, who according to sources said the photo of Dorian was not the picture of the man who shot him.

Armed with this knowledge, Lake County chose not to file charges, although Prosecutor Bernard Carter and former Sheriff Roy Dominguez joined Glasgow and Kaupas for a news conference in Joliet.

I was there. Neither Cartner nor Dominguez appeared comfortable.

Zagel dismissed Glasgow from the case "without prejudice," which means Dorian's lawyer can petition to reinstate Glasgow into the lawsuit.

But the law is pretty clear. Prosecutorial immunity is virtually the law of the land.

But what does that mean for someone such as Brian Dorian, who was a victim of what was a rush to justice because the public was clamoring for an arrest in the sensational case?

In layman's terms, it means he is in trouble.

The opinions are solely those of the writer. He can be reached at mark.kiesling@nwi.com or (219) 933-4130.