Post by Anja Nieser on Sept 9, 2006 9:57:57 GMT -5
Death penalty still on the table for Wauconda man
By Adam Kovac
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, September 09, 2006
A death sentence remains a possibility for a Wauconda man accused of fatally shooting the winner of a dice game outside a Carpentersville apartment complex, authorities said.
Michael Calabrese, 25, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the May 1, 2005, slaying of Edmund Edwards, who was gunned down in the parking lot of the Fox View Apartments.
On Friday, defense attorney Paul De Luca filed about a half-dozen legal requests concerning the death penalty, such as a bid to have the state’s capital punishment system declared unconstitutional.
The development means that Kane County prosecutors have rejected an attempt De Luca made earlier this year to have the death penalty taken off the table in the Calabrese case.
“They have decided they’re going to go ahead with it,” De Luca said. “Most of these motions have been argued before, but we’re arguing them again.”
De Luca has said Calabrese’s past — his client recently has had a mental health exam — could make him ineligible for the death penalty.
Also Friday, Judge Philip DiMarzio granted a request to allow De Luca to use special state funds and resources earmarked for death penalty cases to help with Calabrese’s defense.
Bill Engerman, an assistant state’s attorney who is prosecuting Calabrese, said Friday there are no plans to seek prison time if there is a conviction.
Calabrese is eligible for a lethal injection under Illinois law in part because Edwards was killed during an armed robbery.
Edwards, 25, was on a winning streak while he played dice with a group of men, including Calabrese, in the parking lot of the Fox View complex, police have said.
A least five witnesses told police Calabrese left after losing his cash but returned around 2:39 a.m. wearing a mask and carrying a handgun demanding his money back.
Edwards, of Chicago Ridge, was shot in the back and head when he tried to run. He later died at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, police said.
Calabrese, who was on parole for theft, went on the lam for 23 days until he was arrested in Kankakee County. He is due in court again Oct. 20.
dailyherald.com
By Adam Kovac
Daily Herald Staff Writer
Posted Saturday, September 09, 2006
A death sentence remains a possibility for a Wauconda man accused of fatally shooting the winner of a dice game outside a Carpentersville apartment complex, authorities said.
Michael Calabrese, 25, is charged with five counts of first-degree murder in the May 1, 2005, slaying of Edmund Edwards, who was gunned down in the parking lot of the Fox View Apartments.
On Friday, defense attorney Paul De Luca filed about a half-dozen legal requests concerning the death penalty, such as a bid to have the state’s capital punishment system declared unconstitutional.
The development means that Kane County prosecutors have rejected an attempt De Luca made earlier this year to have the death penalty taken off the table in the Calabrese case.
“They have decided they’re going to go ahead with it,” De Luca said. “Most of these motions have been argued before, but we’re arguing them again.”
De Luca has said Calabrese’s past — his client recently has had a mental health exam — could make him ineligible for the death penalty.
Also Friday, Judge Philip DiMarzio granted a request to allow De Luca to use special state funds and resources earmarked for death penalty cases to help with Calabrese’s defense.
Bill Engerman, an assistant state’s attorney who is prosecuting Calabrese, said Friday there are no plans to seek prison time if there is a conviction.
Calabrese is eligible for a lethal injection under Illinois law in part because Edwards was killed during an armed robbery.
Edwards, 25, was on a winning streak while he played dice with a group of men, including Calabrese, in the parking lot of the Fox View complex, police have said.
A least five witnesses told police Calabrese left after losing his cash but returned around 2:39 a.m. wearing a mask and carrying a handgun demanding his money back.
Edwards, of Chicago Ridge, was shot in the back and head when he tried to run. He later died at Sherman Hospital in Elgin, police said.
Calabrese, who was on parole for theft, went on the lam for 23 days until he was arrested in Kankakee County. He is due in court again Oct. 20.
dailyherald.com