EDWARDSVILLE – Timothy Banowetz turned down an offer to plead guilty of murdering lawyer Randy Gori, his lawyer Mary Copeland told Madison County circuit judge Kyle Napp on Sept. 22.
Copeland, the county’s chief public defender, sprang the surprise at the end of a hearing in preparation for trial set to start on Oct. 4.
After Copeland and prosecutor Hal Harlow told Napp they had no more questions, Copeland stated she needed to place something on the record.
She said she and public defender Delani Hemmer told Banowetz he should accept an offer from the state for a guilty plea.
She said Banowetz has been respectful, courteous, and polite.
She added that she knew that some lawyers place such a statement on the record but this was her first time.
Napp said she didn’t know what the offer was.
She said she didn’t participate in any discussions.
She asked Banowetz if his lawyers negotiated an agreement, and Banowetz nodded his head to show they did.
Napp asked him if Copeland explained the offer, and he nodded again.
Napp said, “Is it your decision to not take that offer?”
He nodded again.
Napp said there was nothing more she could do.
She told Banowetz that Copeland would do her job to the best of her ability.
Napp had set the hearing primarily to decide whether journalists could capture the trial with video and photographs.
Belleville News-Democrat, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, and KMOV-TV applied for such access under Supreme Court guidelines.
Copeland objected, and told Napp at the hearing that cameras would diminish Banowetz’s right to a fair trial.
She said their presence could affect the free flow of information at trial.
“It’s difficult not to let it affect how you act,” Copeland said.
She added that denial of the applications wouldn’t infringe on First Amendment rights of the media or rights of the public.
She said Banowetz would likely spend his life in prison if a jury convicted him.
Napp said the Illinois Supreme Court expressed desire to open up court proceedings when it provided for extended media coverage.
The Court found it wouldn’t diminish the right to a fair trial, she explained.
Napp said her job was to follow the Court’s guidelines.
She said the virus has changed how courts operate.
“Just look around the room,” Napp said
“The jury can’t sit in the jury box and if they sit where you’re sitting, no one else can sit,” she added.
She said she would allow a video camera and a still camera, on a pool basis.
She would also allow one or two reporters in the room, and the rest could watch on a screen in civil court two blocks away.
She designated a back corner for the video camera.
Napp said she would enter an order and anyone violating it would be removed without warning and not allowed back.
She said prospective jurors would fill out questionnaires, either online or when they arrive at noon on Oct. 4.
“The name isn’t on the case so it’s not on the questionnaire,” she said
“Jury selection might take longer than usual but that’s okay,” she added.
Napp also expressed general thanks for completion of a jury room in the basement.
A deputy opened the room, which provides plenty of space with calm colors, fresh furniture, and afternoon sun through windows above ground level.