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A lawyer argued Monday reckless conduct charges against the father of accused Highland Park parade shooter Robert Crimo III should be dismissed because the state laws prosecutors relied on are vague and overly broad.
Attorney George Gomez asked Lake County Judge George Strickland to drop the charges against Robert Crimo Jr., brought in the wake of the July 4, 2022, shooting spree that left seven people dead and wounded many others.
After hearing Gomez’s motion and a response from Lake County prosecutors and an attorney from the Illinois Attorney General’s office, the judge said he would rule on Aug. 28.
While Crimo III awaits trial on more than 100 felony counts, his father has been charged with reckless conduct for signing state forms that allowed his then-underaged son to obtain the firearm owners ID card that allowed Crimo III to purchase guns.
Prosecutors allege that Crimo Jr. acted recklessly when he vouched for his son because he should have known his son was troubled and potentially violent. But Gomez argued Monday the father’s accurate responses on state firearms’ forms could not be construed as reckless.
“Signing an affidavit that is truthful is not against the law,” Gomez said.
Gomez argued the state’s reckless conduct statute is overly broad, though the judge indicated some disagreement, saying it was impossible for state lawmakers to write an all-encompassing list of reckless acts.
“There’s no way the legislature can codify human behavior,” Strickland said.
The judge also questioned whether he could, at the pretrial stage, make findings of fact about the truthfulness of the affidavit Crimo Jr. signed; factual findings will come via evidence at trial, said Strickland.
“I can’t make any findings because I don’t know any of the facts of the case,” said Strickland, who will preside over Crimo Jr.’s bench trial later this year.
Gomez is also asking the court to make a finding that the statute of limitations had expired on the reckless conduct charge. Prosecutors, though, contend that the reckless conduct scenario was activated only after Crimo Jr.’s son allegedly fired on the crowd at the Independence Day parade.
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