Courthouse Action: Brand New Year

The New Year starts off with a bang at the courthouse.

Court Supervision: Brand New Year

The New Year didn't start out all that great for everyone.

The New Year turned five days old today. And out of those five days, the Will County Courthouse was only open for three of them. That may not be a lot of days, but they were still action-packed and exciting. How action packed and exciting? Well, let's take a look: Are you a fan of true crime? Then come like our Facebook page.

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Ann C. Piasecki

10:33 pm on Sunday, January 6, 2013

Thank you both for your interest and comments on this story. However, they are inappropriate for the broader audience. No more comments will be accepted.   more ›

New Lenox Man Guilty in Coma Punch Case, Family Rails Against System

The family of Joseph Messina was distraught after a Will County judge found him guilty of punching a Joliet man into a coma more than three years ago.

Three and a half years after he was punched into a coma outside a Mokena bar, Eric Bartels sat propped in a wheelchair in a crowded Joliet courtroom. After the judge found the New Lenox man charged with striking him guilty, Bartels blinked his eyes once. "There are times when he knows what's going on," Bartels' mother, Janet Bartels of Tinley Park, said after Judge Sarah Jones delivered her verdict against Joseph Messina, 24, Thursday morning. Janet Bartels wasn't sure if that was one of those moments, but said she saw Messina going down from the start. "I knew this would be the outcome all along," she said. All along began back in July 2009 at the Mokena bar 191 South. Messina and five friends went to 191 South to celebrate his 21st …

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Fate of New Lenox Man in Mokena Coma Punch Trial in Judge's Hands

The trial of New Lenox man Joseph Messina concluded Monday afternoon.

Nearly six months after it started, the trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma drew to a close Monday afternoon. But the fate of Joseph Messina won't be known until Will County Judge Sarah Jones hands down her verdict Jan. 3. Messina, 24, waived his right to have a jury decide his guilt or innocence before the trial started in June. Messina allegedly punched 29-year-old Eric Bartels in the face outside the Mokena bar 191 South in July 2009. When Bartels fell, his head struck the the concrete and he suffered a fractured skull. A half-dozen witnesses, including two men working for a car service and a 191 South bouncer, testified to seeing Messina throw the fateful punch. But one of Messina's closest friends, …

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Coma Punch Buddy Can Testify Without Perjury, Obstruction Charges

The star witness in the Mokena coma punch trial can testify without fear of facing criminal charges.

The judge in the Mokena coma punch case cleared the way for Thursday's bombshell witness to keep testifying without fear of prosecution on perjury or obstructing justice charges. The witness, Steve Raymond of Frankfort, then returned to the witness stand to recall how he told the police "a lot of lies," including how he never saw who threw the fateful punch that put a Joliet man in a coma in July 2009. On Thursday and Friday Raymond changed his story and said it was his friend Mike Glielmi who punched 29-year-old Eric Bartels in the face outside the Mokena bar 191 South. Another of Raymond's friends, Joseph Messina, 24, of New Lenox, was charged with attacking Bartels and spent nearly two months in jail before bonding out. Yet Raymond kept…

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New Lenox Man in Coma Case Trying To Pin Punch On Pal

The lawyers for New Lenox man Joseph Messina are blaming one of his friends for punching a Joliet man into a coma, but his buddy's pleading the Fifth.

A bombshell witness took the stand in the case against New Lenox man Joseph Messina and accused one of their pals of throwing the fateful punch that put a Joliet man into a coma. Steve Raymond of Frankfort blamed mutual friend Michael Glielmi of punching Eric Bartels into a coma in July 2009. "This is what people don't know," Raymond said. "I saw Mike Glielmi punch Eric Bartels." For his part, the 24-year-old Glielmi showed up in court with Joliet attorney Steven Haney, who said his client would plead the Fifth Amendment if called to testify. "The advice is he's going to invoke his right to remain silent," Haney told Judge Sarah Jones. Haney told the judge that it was his "understanding" that Glielmi could be charged if he answers …

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Coma Victim's Mother Files Lawsuit Against Hospitals

A law suit filed on behalf of Eric Bartels, 29, who suffered massive head trauma in a 2009 bar fight in Mokena, accuses Silver Cross and Provena St. Joseph's with negligence. The trial for Joseph Messina, 24, who is charged with aggravated battery in the

The aggravated battery case of New Lenox's Joseph Messina, 24, who is accused of putting a man in a coma after a bar fight in Mokena three years ago, resulted in a law suit filed Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court. While Messina's guilt or innocence is yet to be determined, the victim in the fight, Eric Bartels, 29, of Joliet, suffered massive head trauma. He continues to endure debilitating effects. The Chicago Tribune reported that Bartel's mother filed a law suit against Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, Provena St. Joseph's Medical Center in Joliet and doctors; the charge is negligence. The suit, according to the Chicago Tribune, accuses both hospitals of failing to fulfill their obligations as designated Level II trauma centers. …

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Eric Blair

6:49 pm on Wednesday, October 31, 2012

What's wrong is that this POS punk isn't in prison where he belongs.   more ›

Mokena Coma Punch Case Back on Court Docket

The trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma outside a Mokena bar will resume next month.

The bench trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma outside a Mokena bar took a back seat to two of the most notorious and highly publicized murder cases in Will County's history. But the trials of wife-murderer Drew Peterson and quadruple-killer Christopher Vaughn are over now, and the case of Joseph Messina is back on. Messina, 24, allegedly knocked 29-year-old Eric Bartels of Joliet to the ground with a single punch outside the Mokena bar 191 South in July 2009. Bartels has been in a coma since. After Bartels fell, a witness testified previously, Messina straddled him, punched his face again, then "raised his arms above his head in victory." The police arrived quickly and found Messina hiding between the …

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Add the Punchline to Our Dog Gone Cartoon

If you've got wit, add your punchline to Patch's weekly comic and win a personalized print.

Are you blessed with insight and good humor? Or just bored today? Share your wit with your south suburban neighbors by entering Patch's comic caption challenge. Just add your dialogue for today's comic in the comment section of this post. Our only requirement is that you keep it clean! At week's end, we'll pick the winning punchline based on how many of us here at Patch giggle and smile at your contribution. The user who produces the winning punchline will get a personalized proof of the comic, with the winning words and a credit line, from cartoonist Chuck Ingwersen and Patch. Congratulations to QC, who provided the winning punchline to last week's Bad Coffee comic: Female: Drink up mayor. Cheers! Male: Sandy, how obvious can you get? 

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