Judge Restores Phone Privileges For Highland Park Shooting Defendant Bobby Crimo

WAUKEGAN, IL — The judge presiding over the murder trial of the man accused of carrying out a mass shooting at the Highland Park Independence Day parade lifted some of the restrictions she placed on his communication.

At a brief case management conference Wednesday, Lake County Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti granted the prosecution's request to modify her Sept 15, 2023, order revoking the accused gunman's phones, tablet and internet privileges.

The defendant in the case awaits trial at the Lake County Jail on 117 felony charges, including 21 counts of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings of Katie Goldstein, Irina McCarthy, Kevin McCarthy, Stephen Straus, Jacki Sundheim, Nicolás Toledo and Eduardo Uvaldo, as well as charges of aggravated battery and attempted murder for each of the nearly 50 wounded paradegoers.

Robert "Bobby" Crimo III, 23, had restrictions placed on his ability to contact the outside world twice last year. The recently modified order was filed just a week before a video of Crimo claiming that the attacks were a "false flag operation deployed by the people who hide behind the FBI" and that he was "tortured and coerced" into a confession was posted online.

At Wednesday morning's hearing, Assistant State's Attorney Ben Dillon asked Rossetti to allow Crimo to have phone contact with his father, mother and siblings at four specified numbers.

---

Assistant Public Defender Greg Ticsay confirmed he had reviewed the order with Crimo, who told the judge he understood the modification.

Crimo is due back in court in Waukegan for his next appearance on May 25.

The Highland Park High School dropout briefly represented himself after he dismissed his court-appointed attorneys in December and invoked his right to a speedy trial. That complicated the timing of his pending jury trial, which was briefly rescheduled for this February.

But Crimo reversed course and again retained his team of public defenders. They successfully convinced Lake County Circuit Judge Victoria Rossetti to go back to the previously arranged trial date of February 2025, over the objection of Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart.

"Just because Mr. Crimo for a short period of time asked to represent himself," Rossetti said at a February hearing, "I don't think that that should change the trial date."

In addition to the possibility of a life sentence in state prison if convicted of the murder charges, Crimo and his father also face a series of civil lawsuits from the victims and survivors of the shooting.

The suits also name as defendants firearm manufacturer Smith & Wesson and two retailers from which Crimo purchased the M&P 15 semiautomatic rifle he allegedly used in the shooting, which was banned last year by the assault weapon ban in the Protect Illinois Communities Act.

Earlier this month, a panel of federal appellate court judges ruled that Smith & Wesson cannot move the case from state to federal court, potentially putting the gunmaker on the hook to pay extensive damages.

Separately, the accused gunman's father pleaded guilty to misdemeanor reckless conduct charged in a plea deal with prosecutors that saw him spend 28 days behind bars. His lawyer said concerns over how evidence exposed by taking the case to trial could hinder his son's right to receive a fair trial contributed to his decision to admit to the charges.

Earlier:

• Highland Park Parade Shooting Defendant's Trial Set For February 2025
• Trial Of Man Charged In Parade Shooting Postponed
• Accused Highland Park Parade Shooter Requests Public Defender
• Bobby Crimo Claims Highland Park Parade Shooting Was FBI 'False Flag'