Thursday, May 16, 2013
Defense attorneys want the judge who found a New Lenox man guilty of punching another man into a coma outside a Mokena bar to step down.
Hours after a Will County Judge found a New Lenox man guilty of punching another man into a coma, she received an email from the state's attorney's office. Attached to the email was a statement from Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow about the case. The judge, Sarah Jones, said she never opened the attachment, but the lawyers for the New Lenox man awaiting sentencing for the fateful punch want her off the case anyway. "It's about the appearance to everyone in the county—it's about the appearance to the citizen's of Illinois," defense attorney Dave Carlson said as he argued Judge Jones should recuse herself from the case of Joseph Messina during a Thursday afternoon hearing at the Will County Courthouse. Messina, 24, was found …
Thursday, March 28, 2013
An email from the state's attorney's office to the judge in the New Lenox coma puncher case is enough to get the convicted man a new trial, according to court papers filed by defense lawyers.
On the day a New Lenox man was to be sentenced for punching another man into a coma outside a Mokena bar, the judge announced she received an email from the prosecutor's office. Even though Will County Judge Sarah Jones didn't read the email, lawyers for convicted coma-puncher Joseph Messina say that just the fact she got it means she should start a whole new trial and leave it to another judge to decide the case. Messina, 24, was found guilty in January of punching 29-year-old Eric Bartels of Joliet outside the Mokena bar 191 South in July 2009. The attack left Bartels in a coma. Messina was set to be sentenced March 6 but his attorneys, Dave Carlson and Ken Zelazo, instead argued for a new trial based on a lack of evidence, among other …
Saturday, November 3, 2012
Also, a judge won't reconsider Dawn Hamill's sentence for her conviction connected to a 2011 raid of her Dazzle's Painted Pastures Animal Rescue and Sanctuary. Prosecutors also dropped other charges related to the raid.
James West, 26, pleaded guilty to one count of felony possession of child pornography and was sentenced to six years in prison, a Cook County State's Attorney's Office spokesman said. West's girlfriend Lauren Papiez of Oak Lawn was also charged but pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and was sentenced to probation in August. Police say the pair sent sexually explicit photos and text messages to the high school student. They were arrested in September 2011 and charged with one count each of indecent solicitation of a child. West was taken into custody at the Oak Lawn Community High School’s fall carnival, where he was operating rides for Spectacular Midway Amusement. Patch rounds up the Southland's major criminal and civil cases being heard …
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
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 …
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
A judge ruled has missing photos are a moot point in the trial of Joseph Messina of New Lenox, charged with punching a Joliet resident into a coma outside of a Mokena bar in 2009.
A defense motion for mistrial with prejudice was denied Monday in the aggravated battery case of 24-year-old Joseph Messina, of New Lenox. A Will County judge also denied an opportunity for a motion for a mistrial that would impeach the prosecution. Messina is accused of punching a Joliet man to the ground in a bar fight and knocking his head against the pavement. Since then, Eric Bartels, 29, has remained unable to speak or see. Will County Judge Sarah Jones said after having reviewed the testimony and case law provided, it became "very obvious" that both the state and the defense were unaware of photos pertaining to Messina's hands until June when police investigators indicated that they were part of the stream of evidence. …
Tuesday, August 7, 2012
Judge says she'll take a week to decide on a motion for mistrial with prejudice. Joseph Messina, of New Lenox, is accused of punching Joliet resident Eric Bartels into a coma.
The aggravated battery case of New Lenox resident Joseph Messina, 24, who was accused three years ago on his 21st birthday of punching a Joliet man into a coma during a bar fight in Mokena, got a bit theatrical Monday at Will County Circuit Court in Joliet. Will County Circuit Judge Sarah Jones said she would review the case and return Aug. 13 with a decision in regard to the motion for mistrial with prejudice. For nearly an hour, the judge listened intently to both the prosecution and the defense team. The focus was on a defense motion for a "mistrial with prejudice," meaning the case is not eligible to be retried. Previously there had been problems confirming the legitimacy of the photos recorded during the initial interview with …
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
The case against New Lenox resident Joseph Messina is continued till Aug. 6. He's charged with beating a Joliet man into a coma outside of a Mokena bar in 2009.
The aggravated battery case of Joseph Messina, of New Lenox, continues to linger on in Will County Circuit Court. Today the defense's motion for mistrial was continued until Aug. 6. Chuck Pelkie, Will County State's Attorney spokesman, said Will County Judge Sarah Jones approved the continuance. Messina, 23, was charged with punching Joliet resident Eric Bartels into a coma outside of a Mokena bar in 2009. The former football player for Lincoln-Way Central High School was charged with aggravated battery for the alleged attack. He is accused of punching Bartels, 29, and knocking him to the pavement where he struck his head. On July 23 Messina's defense attorney David Carlson asked for time to investigate exactly how copies of photos …
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
The aggravated battery case of Joseph Messina, of New Lenox, was postponed till July 30. He's charged with punching Joliet resident Eric Bartels into a coma outside of a Mokena bar in 2009.
The trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma during a bar fight in July 2009 in Mokena was postponed until July 30. Joseph Messina, 23, a former football player for Lincoln-Way Central High School, was charged with aggravated battery for the alleged attack. He is accused of punching Eric Bartels, 29, and knocking him to the pavement where he struck his head. On Monday at Will County Court, defense attorney David Carlson asked for time to investigate exactly how copies of photos reportedly shot by the Mokena police were processed. "We need to discuss how the photos were transferred to a DVD," he said. Will County Judge Sarah Jones ruled to reschedule the case. Previously there had been problems confirming the…
Thursday, July 19, 2012
A Mokena police detective now says he can't recall whether he photographed the hands of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma.
The trial of a New Lenox man charged with punching a Joliet man into a coma during a bar fight ground to a halt when a Mokena Detective said he had shot a photo of the defendant's hand that no one can seem to find. Will County Judge Sarah Jones gave the Mokena police 11 days to come up with the missing picture. The police couldn't find it, and attorneys for the New Lenox man, 23-year-old Joseph Messina, moved for a mistrial. Then on Thursday, the same detective said he now can't remember whether he shot the photo after all. "No, I do not recall," Detective Greg Selin said during a hearing in Will County court. Defense attorney Ken Zelazo asked Selin if he talked about the Messina matter with prosecutors. Selin told him he did, but just …
Monday, July 9, 2012
Defense attorneys are bidding to have a mistrial declared in the case of a tragic bar fight because the police can't find a photo of the defendant's fist.
The police had 11 days to come up with a photo of the fist they say put a Joliet man in a coma. They failed to find it, and now the attorneys representing the New Lenox man charged with throwing the tragic coma punch are going for a mistrial. The purported picture shows the hand of Joseph Messina, the man standing trial for allegedly pummeling 29-year-old Eric Bartels of Joliet in July 2009 so severely that Bartels is still in a coma. Messina, 23, allegedly knocked Bartels to the ground with one punch outside the Mokena bar 191 South. After Bartels fell, a witness testified, Messina straddled him, punched his face again, then "raised his arms above his head in victory." Mokena police Detective Gregory Selin testified on June 28 that he …
Dede
11:02 am on Saturday, May 18, 2013
Baba Wawa, I realize new trial motions are not rare. I was just commenting on the reasons used lately. Why get nasty about it? I didn't think that's the purpose for this site. more ›