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Henry Haupt, a spokesperson for Illinois Secretary of State
Alexi Giannoulias, said in an email that the hearing had been
postponed until Nov. 1 at Mitchell’s request.
Mitchell pleaded guilty to two counts of reckless homicide and
two counts of aggravated reckless driving in connection with a
crash the day after Thanksgiving in 2007 on Interstate 64 east
in St. Clair County. That conviction triggered the revocation of
his driver’s license. He has tried five times in the past to
have his license reinstated.
Former Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White had previously
blocked Mitchell’s attempts to have his license restored,
overturning recommendations by a hearing officer to reinstate
his driving privileges.
White left the office in January, making this Mitchell’s first
attempt under Giannoulias.
In the crash that killed the Uhl sisters, Mitchell was
responding to a call and said that a white car cut him off,
causing him to lose control. He crossed the median, sending his
squad car airborne before it struck Jessica Uhl’s Mazda 3 head
on, causing it to catch fire. Uhl, 18, and her sister Kelli Uhl,
13, who was a passenger in the car, were pronounced dead at the
scene.
A later investigation by an Illinois State Police accident
reconstructionist revealed Mitchell was traveling at 126 mph and
was talking on the phone with his girlfriend. The investigation
further found Mitchell was using his in-dash computer. Witnesses
refuted Mitchell’s account of the cut-off car.
He resigned from the state police in 2010.
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