‘Dreadhead Cowboy’ cannot call Lightfoot to testify in his defense, judge rules

The “Dreadhead Cowboy” will not be able to call Mayor Lori Lightfoot as a witness during his criminal trial, a Cook County judge ruled Monday.

Adam Hollingsworth, who gained national fame and adoration last year attending protests and community events on horseback, wanted to call Lightfoot as a character witness. Lightfoot’s office last summer recruited Hollingsworth to be the “Census Cowboy” in a drive for census participation.

A couple of months after that, Hollingsworth was accused of riding his horse down the Dan Ryan Expressway to the point of near death, and he was charged with felony animal cruelty. He has represented himself through much of the case, and the pretrial period has been chaotic.

Monday’s hearing grew contentious as Judge Michael McHale told Hollingsworth that an earlier filing had canceled out his formal demand for trial — and that with pending issues to address, he could not go to trial as planned on Nov. 29.

Hollingsworth objected strenuously during the attempts to schedule a next court date, and McHale threatened to hold him in contempt of court if he continued to interrupt.

In contrast, the arguments over Lightfoot’s appearance were relatively sedate. As part of his defense, Hollingsworth sent Lightfoot a court summons at City Hall, records show.

City attorneys argued that Lightfoot’s testimony would not be relevant to the criminal case, and asked McHale to throw out the subpoena.

Hollingsworth, after saying that he only received the city’s objection in court earlier that day and wanted more time to prepare, presented no arguments in support of letting the mayor testify.

“Is it true that I’m being denied the right to call a witness in my defense?” he asked when it was his turn to argue.

That’s what the hearing is meant to decide, McHale told him.

“That’s all I have to say,” he responded.

McHale then said Hollingsworth had not shown that Lightfoot’s testimony would be relevant to his defense, and granted the city’s request to quash the subpoena.

A parent who hired a clown to perform at a child’s birthday party would not be relevant as a character witness if the clown were later charged with a crime, McHale said by way of analogy.

“You compared me with a clown!” Hollingsworth said, then presented McHale with paperwork requesting that a new judge be put on his case.

Such requests are decided by the judge’s supervisor, so Hollingsworth and the Cook County prosecutors handling his case went a few floors downstairs to Judge Neera Walsh’s courtroom.

The comment about the clown was inappropriate, Hollingsworth told Walsh.

“He could have made any other example, but to compare what I did for Lori Lightfoot versus what a clown does for the circus? He basically called me a clown,” he said.

And, he said, he felt that McHale was taking prosecutors’ side: “I shouldn’t be arguing with the referee.”

Walsh denied his request to switch judges, bringing Hollingsworth and prosecutors back in front of McHale.

As the Dreadhead Cowboy, Hollingsworth and his horses had become a familiar sight at neighborhood events and protests, and his unusual story drew national attention.

But the feel-good story came to an abrupt end in September of last year, when he was charged with felony animal cruelty after being accused of mistreating his horse in a 7½-mile gallop on the Dan Ryan during a protest. The journey ended with the animal allegedly severely injured and near death.

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