After moving to withdraw his guilty plea to the murder of asbestos attorney Randy Gori due to alleged “inadequate representation” by Madison County Public Defender Mary Copeland, Timothy Banowetz asked Circuit Judge Kyle Napp to again appoint a special defender.
“Yeah, I’m going to need someone appointed to me,” Banowetz said during a video hearing in Napp’s courtroom on Thursday.
Napp scheduled the hearing to determine if Banowetz would need the assistance of counsel after he failed to respond to her order asking how he wished to proceed.
“The court then set the matter to today solely for the purpose of determining whether or not Mr. Banowetz wishes to have counsel appointed to him, or to hire private counsel, or if he’s going to represent himself,” Napp said.
Napp said she would appoint a special defender to represent Banowetz, but she has to first see who is available and ensure no conflicts exist.
She said that after a special defender is appointed, they will make arrangements to either file any necessary motions or to adopt Banowetz’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea.
Napp added that she would set a status conference “to make sure that special defender has everything they need to proceed forward.” She would then schedule a hearing on the motion to dismiss filed by State’s Attorney Tom Haine’s office.
Banowetz is currently an inmate at the Pontiac Correctional Center after pleading guilty on Oct. 5, 2021, to the first degree murder of Randy Gori and two armed robbery charges of minors Grace and Ethan Gori.
He was sentenced on Dec. 10, 2021, to 70 years in prison.
Haine said during the sentencing hearing that Banowetz must serve at least 65 years of his 70-year sentence and will be imprisoned until he is at least 93 years old.
On Dec. 5, 2022, Banowetz asked for his guilty plea to be withdrawn and to be brought back to Madison County to stand trial.
“The plea was not made voluntarily and was made because of both coercion and inadequate representation,” Banowetz wrote in his motion. “I was told by my lawyer that I should take the deal because it was what the Gori family wanted.”
He wrote that Copeland “said in court that there had been a complete breakdown in communication between us. She never showed me my full discovery or discussed a defense strategy. Copeland said that her only job was to make sure that my conviction would hold up on appeal.”
Banowetz claims he asked Copeland to request a change of venue after allegedly learning that Gori made campaign contributions to Democrat elected officials. He claims his guilty plea should be withdrawn because the request was never filed and Napp did not recuse herself.
On March 6, Assistant State’s Attorney Chad Loughrey filed a motion to dismiss Banowetz’s request.
He argues that Banowetz made a “knowing, voluntary waiver of his rights and entered into a negotiated ‘open’ guilty plea.”
Loughrey wrote that Banowetz had 30 days from the date of his sentencing to file a motion to withdraw his plea “and was properly admonished of such in open court by Napp.”
“Banowetz has failed to timely file his motion to withdraw his guilty plea and as such the circuit court lacks jurisdiction to modify or vacate its judgment,” he wrote.
Just before the sentencing hearing began in December 2021, Banowetz chose to proceed pro se and attempted to withdraw his guilty plea at that time. Copeland told Napp that Banowetz informed her that he would no longer like her to represent him just “moments before.”
“It is an unusual situation that the court finds itself in today,” Napp said.
Napp first addressed his pro-se request, urging Banowetz to allow Copeland to represent him and making sure he understood the risks he was taking.
“I will give you the opportunity to represent yourself at this sentencing hearing,” Napp said. “I don’t think it’s a good idea, Mr. Banowetz. And I wish you wouldn’t make that decision. But ultimately the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of Illinois says that you have that right.”
Napp asked Copeland to remain as a “standby counsel,” so Banowetz could ask her questions if necessary.
When Napp asked him about the pre-sentencing investigation and addendums, his response could not be heard but must have been related to his request to withdraw the guilty plea.
Napp told him they were not there to withdraw a plea. She said he could file a post-conviction motion to withdraw his plea after the sentencing.
“Mr. Banowetz, we’re going to a sentencing hearing today because I don’t believe that you are going to cooperate with anything,” Napp said. “You’re going to throw up roadblocks every chance you get to stop this, just like you did the trial. So we’re going to proceed to a sentencing hearing today. And I will give you your appeal rights, and you can appeal. But you’re not going to keep throwing up roadblocks. You have rights and I will ensure that they are all followed to a T, but I’m not going to let you play games anymore.”
Gori was murdered at his home in Edwardsville on Jan. 4, 2020. He was found in a basement bedroom with 40 stab wounds to the back and an incised wound to the neck.
Gori’s children were found in the laundry room with their hands bound behind their backs with zip ties.
Banowetz approached officers searching the area after the murder and identified himself. He allegedly told officers that he was looking for his truck after attending a bonfire in the area. He was taken in for questioning, and blood on his shirt allegedly matched Gori’s DNA.