Current:Home > StocksFather charged with helping suspect in July 4 shooting obtain gun license to ask judge to toss case -Infinite Edge Capital
Father charged with helping suspect in July 4 shooting obtain gun license to ask judge to toss case
View
Date:2025-04-17 05:16:18
CHICAGO (AP) — A father will ask a judge Monday to dismiss his case in which authorities say he helped his son obtain a gun license three years before the younger man fatally shot seven people at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago.
Illinois prosecutors charged Robert Crimo Jr. under a unconstitutionally vague law, his lawyers are expected to argue at a hearing in Waukegan, north of Highland Park where the shooting occurred. If Lake County Judge George Strickland allows the case to proceed, Crimo Jr.'s bench trial would start Nov. 6.
Crimo Jr. has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of reckless conduct, one for each person killed. Each count carries a maximum three-year prison term.
Prosecutors said he helped his son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license even though the then-19-year-old had threatened violence.
The four-sentence section of the state law invoked to charge Crimo Jr. says “a person commits reckless conduct when he or she, by any means lawful or unlawful, recklessly performs an act or acts that ... cause great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement to another person.”
A defense filing argues the law’s lack of specificity makes it impossible to know what actions qualify as criminal reckless conduct. They also say it offers no definition of “cause,” opening the way for prosecutors to wrongly link the signing of a gun-license application to a shooting years later.
“Here, the reckless conduct charge ... specifically seeks to criminalize the Defendant’s lawful act of signing a truthful affidavit,” the filing says. It adds that, until Crimo Jr., “Illinois has never prosecuted an individual for signing a truthful affidavit under oath.”
“The potential for the arbitrary enforcement of such a vague standard is staggering,” it said.
A grand jury indicted the son last year on 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, representing the seven people killed and dozens wounded in the attack. Potential evidence is voluminous in the son’s case and no trial date has been set. He has pleaded not guilty.
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said after the father’s arrest that the accusations against him are based on sponsorship of his son’s application for a gun license in December 2019. Authorities say Crimo III tried to kill himself in April 2019 and in September 2019 was accused by a family member of making threats to “kill everyone.”
“Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons,” Rinehart said at the time.
Legal experts have said it is rare for a parent or guardian of a suspect in a shooting to face charges, in part because it’s so difficult to prove such charges.
The father is a familiar face around Highland Park, where he was once a mayoral candidate and operated convenience stores. He was released on a $50,000 bond after his December arrest.
veryGood! (82)
Related
- McKinsey to pay $650 million after advising opioid maker on how to 'turbocharge' sales
- Trista Sutter Breaks Silence About Her Absence and Reunites With Husband Ryan and Kids
- With 345,000 tickets sold, storms looming, Indy 500 blackout looks greedy, archaic
- Jason Kelce Purrfectly Trolls Brother Travis Kelce With Taylor Swift Cat Joke
- Juan Soto to be introduced by Mets at Citi Field after striking record $765 million, 15
- Congress defies its own law, fails to install plaque honoring Jan. 6 police officers
- Texas runoffs put Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales, state’s GOP House speaker in middle of party feud
- Bill Walton college: Stats, highlights, records from UCLA center's Hall of Fame career
- Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
- What information is on your credit report? Here's what I found when I read my own.
Ranking
- Will the 'Yellowstone' finale be the last episode? What we know about Season 6, spinoffs
- Low percentage of Americans in military is deeply problematic as a democracy, Rep. Pat Ryan says
- Patricia Richardson says 'Home Improvement' ended over Tim Allen pay gap
- What information is on your credit report? Here's what I found when I read my own.
- Who are the most valuable sports franchises? Forbes releases new list of top 50 teams
- Taylor Swift adds three opening acts to her summer Eras Tour concerts in London
- Kate Middleton and Prince William Mourn Death of RAF Pilot After Spitfire Crash
- With 345,000 tickets sold, storms looming, Indy 500 blackout looks greedy, archaic
Recommendation
Rams vs. 49ers highlights: LA wins rainy defensive struggle in key divisional game
Rodeo star Spencer Wright's son opens eyes, lifts head days after river accident
Two correctional officers sustain minor injuries after assault by two inmates at Minnesota prison
Papua New Guinea government says Friday’s landslide buried 2,000 people and formally asks for help
Military service academies see drop in reported sexual assaults after alarming surge
Jason Kelce Purrfectly Trolls Brother Travis Kelce With Taylor Swift Cat Joke
General Hospital's Johnny Wactor Dead at 37 in Fatal Shooting
Mike Tyson 'doing great' after medical scare on flight