Plainfield Murder Trial Sparks Fair Trial Concern From Lawyer

JOLIET, IL — As soon-to-be 72-year-old jail inmate Joseph Czuba sat with his two Will County public defenders on Friday morning, Will County Judge Dave Carlson agreed to allow credentialed members of the news media to take photos at Monday's arraignment hearing for the Plainfield landlord charged with first-degree murder and hate crimes.

On Thursday, the Plainfield landlord was formally indicted on eight felony charges in connection with the death of 6-year-old Wadee Alfayoumi and stabbing of his mother, Hanan Shaheen. Prosecutors contend Czuba tried to kill the young boy and his mother because they were Muslim.

On Friday, Judge Carlson held a hearing to determine whether to allow cameras in the courtroom for the news media. The Illinois Supreme Court allows courtrooms in Illinois to open media access for their proceedings, and in Will County, each of the judges have discretion on whether to allow access and what limitations, if any, are implemented.

The Will County State's Attorney, represented by veteran prosecutor Christopher Koch, did not offer any objections in Czuba's case, and Koch told the courtroom that the decision rested with Judge Carlson.

As for Czuba, he was brought over from the Will County Jail, and attended Friday's proceedings. Czuba is being represented by the Will County Public Defender's Office, notably Kylie Blatti and George Lenard, who is a downtown Joliet lawyer in private practice who also serves in a part-time capacity for the public defender's office.

Lenard is one of the most experienced and respected criminal defense lawyers in Will County. He also has substantial experience handling high-profile cases, serving as the lawyer for now-convicted mass murderer, Christopher Vaughn.

Lenard told the courtroom that he had great respect for the freedom of the press and the First Amendment, but said he's very concerned about whether Czuba, pronounced Shoe-ba, can find an impartial jury in Will County because of the world-wide publicity that Czuba's murder charges have received.

Lenard pointed out that President Joe Biden has talked about the murder case and made phone calls to the victim's family, and the White House has also issued statements.

"I appreciate the First Amendment ... but Mr. Czuba also has a Constitutional right under the 6th Amendment to be tried by a jury that's impartial," Lenard declared. He also pointed out that the 14th Amendment guarantees Czuba the rights to due process.

As for the issue of allowing any cameras in the courtroom for Monday's arraignment, Lenard said, "it's my position, we'll leave it up to the courts. This case, they refer to it as high profile ... I call it a media case. The media is what makes it high-profile."

Lenard then reminded everyone how Biden made a statement to the nation about the Plainfield murder case within six or seven days of Wadee's fatal stabbing.

"So I think it's pretty clear, coming into this case, where almost everybody knows it. This case is different than all the others," Lenard said, questioning how his client will be able to find 16 people, 12 jurors and four alternates, unless, "those people are living in Disney Land and have no idea what's going on."

Lenard also pointed out that by allowing the media to take photographs, capture video and audio soundbites, the ones that will appear in the news will be "attention getters" and "buzzwords" that will become redundant, such as "26 stab wounds."

Here, it's going to be 26 stab wounds, murder and hate crime, Lenard said of the news media's buzzwords and attention-getters leading up to Czuba's trial.

"The redundancy of media playing testimony, do you think they will be playing (courtroom testimony showing) the presumption of innocence?" Lenard asked the judge.

Lenard also pointed out that the federal courts and the U.S. Supreme Court, to this day, still do not allow for photography and video cameras in their courtrooms. "Maybe they realize that the best option here between the 1st Amendment and 6th Amendment is to allow the oral arguments to be heard," he said. "Jurors will watch that camera. I think that it's a distraction and can be used for grandstanding."

On Thursday, the grand jury indicted the 71-year-old man of three counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of hate crime.

Will County Sheriff's Police and prosecutors allege that on the morning of Oct. 14, Czuba knocked on Shaheen's bedroom door — one of the two rooms she rents in a Plainfield Township house shared by Czuba and his wife — and began arguing with her over the war between Israel and Hamas. The argument turned physical, and Czuba proceeded to stab her about a dozen times before turning on her son.

Just eight days after celebrating his sixth birthday, Wadee was stabbed 26 times and pronounced dead at a Joliet hospital.

After hearing Lenard's position, Judge Carlson issued his ruling, allowing for still photographs for Monday's 10:30 a.m. arraignment hearing in Courtroom 405 for Czuba. The judge announced that audio or video recordings will not be allowed for the hearing.

The judge will also decide whether he will preside over Czuba's murder case, or whether he will randomly assign it to one of the nine felony judges assigned to the Will County Courthouse.

"I will allow still photos, no recording, no audio or visual recordings," Carlson declared.

The judge has not issued a gag order for the case, but he did advise the lawyers from both sides to use extreme caution in making comments to the public outside of the actual courtroom proceedings. "Use common sense," he stressed.