Longtime Lake County prosecutor Michael Mermel, under fire for "inappropriate" comments he made to news media about the prosecution of cases in which DNA evidence did not match the defendant, will retire in January.

Wednesday's announcement by State's Attorney Michael Waller came days after Sheriff Mark Curran called for Mermel's dismissal over statements dating to 1995 that Curran said reflect poorly on the county's criminal justice system.

In his statement, Waller sought to distance himself from Mermel, whom he praised in a 2009 newsletter as a "prosecutor's prosecutor."

"The comments attributed to Mike Mermel do not reflect my views on the role of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office," the statement said, "nor do they reflect the manner in which my staff has conducted themselves over the last 21 years. The sole duty of my office is to seek justice. That duty will continue to be the exclusive mission of the Lake County State's Attorney's Office."

Waukegan defense attorney Jed Stone questioned Waller's sincerity and timing, since Mermel has made controversial statements for years under Waller's watch.

In October 2010, Mermel was quoted in the Tribune as saying: "The taxpayers don't pay us for intellectual curiosity. They pay us to get convictions."

The job of a prosecutor is not to obtain a conviction, but to do the right thing, Stone argued....