A Lake County judge on Wednesday ruled that prosecutors can present any part of the entire seven-hour-plus police interrogation video of the Highland Park parade massacre suspect at his trial scheduled for February.
Judge Victoria Rossetti, reading her ruling at the Lake County Courthouse, rejected a motion to prohibit the majority of the interview of suspect Robert E. Crimo III. Crimo, who held a Quran in court Wednesday, is accused of killing seven people with an assault rifle from a rooftop overlooking the north suburb's July 4 parade in 2022.
The suspect's attorneys argued that police had violated his constitutional rights by failing to tell Crimo that an attorney who showed up at the police station, in the middle of the interrogation, had specifically been hired by his family for him. Police, instead, only told Crimo that there was an attorney in the lobby.
The judge ultimately agreed with prosecutors that police had told Crimo enough information for his rights not to be violated during the interrogation at the Highland Park police station the evening after the shooting.
The judge pointed to numerous times a Highland Park police detective read Crimo his Miranda rights. At one point in the interview Crimo said, "I like heard it a million times," according to video played at his previous court hearing. The judge said the interview appeared to be "conversational and non-threatening" with a "relaxed atmosphere," with police offering Crimo multiple bathroom breaks and food.
"The defendant clearly understood his rights," Rossetti said in the 40-minute hearing. "The court finds the state has met its burden."
The judge also ruled in favor of prosecutors on a second, less-contentious motion to allow identification testimony at trial of a former school resource officer who had interacted with Crimo at Edgewood Middle School and Highland Park High School. The officer, Highland Park Sgt. Brian Soldano, has identified Crimo as the suspect appearing in video and still photos from the area of the shooting.
After the hearing, Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said he agreed with the judge's ruling but declined to comment further. Crimo's attorneys, assistant public defenders Gregory Ticsay and Anton Trizna, declined to comment.
The attorneys told the judge they had prepared questions for jurors for the trial, scheduled for Feb. 24, 2025. The next court hearing is set for Jan. 9.
