Will defense witness' death impede second trial for Billy Cox?

A key figure in Billy J. Cox's effort to win a new trial on charges he tried to kill his wife died tragically this month, raising questions as to whether his death will hamper the prominent McHenry County businessman's drive for a second day in court.

Patrick Harder, 44, was killed Sept. 15 when his motorcycle collided with a car along Route 14 in Crystal Lake. The death came just weeks after Harder, of Wonder Lake, gave lawyers a sworn statement in which he accused a member of the jury that convicted Cox of publicly discussing the case during the trial. According to the statement, the juror said she had made up her mind long before the trial was complete.

A noted inventor and businessman, Cox, 66, was found guilty in April of attempted murder and aggravated domestic battery charges stemming from a September 2004 attack on his wife at the couple's Bull Valley estate.

The charges alleged Cox beat his wife, Carolyn Cox, unconscious, then locked her in a garage with two running cars, hoping she would die from carbon monoxide poisoning.

Cox, the multi-millionaire founder of Richmond-based Exacto Inc., is now sitting in the McHenry County jail without bond, awaiting a Nov. 16 sentencing at which he could face a 60-year prison term.

His defense is hoping it doesn't come to that, however, and a part of their hopes rests on the claims of Harder.

Earlier this month Harder gave a statement in which he says he met a female member of Cox's jury at a Woodstock tavern during the trial, and their discussion quickly turned to the case. Harder said it soon became clear the juror had decided to vote guilty before hearing all the evidence.

"There was anger about her that someone would question his innocence," Harder said, according to a transcript of his statement.

"She was set."

Cox's defense says Harder's account shows the juror violated rules against discussing or deciding the case before the trial was complete.

That, they say, violated Cox's right to a fair trial.

"It absolutely shows that she did not follow the oath she took," Cox attorney Mark Gummerson said last week.

But how does Harder's death affect those claims?

Not at all, Gummerson believes. With a sworn statement on the record, it is unlikely Harder would have been called to testify before a court on his interaction with the Cox juror.

The final answer, however, will come Oct. 18 when McHenry County Judge Joseph Condon is scheduled to hear Cox's arguments for a new trial.

Not our job: McHenry County is asking a court to throw out a wrongful death lawsuit filed in July by the family of a man who died last year, as police unsuccessfully searched for the man after he crashed his motorcycle into a remote cornfield.

The suit, filed by relatives of Kurt A. Regnier, blames his death on the county, its sheriff and its emergency telephone board, saying they failed to install readily available and paid-for technology that would have helped pinpoint the dying man's location.

The county's response? Not our job.

In motions to dismiss the suit filed this month, county attorneys say there are no federal or state regulations requiring them to have the technology in place. When and whether to install the technology, the motion states, is a policy decision for which governments are immune from liability under state law.

Regnier, 47, died July 9, 2006, after crashing his motorcycle into a field near Harvard. Although he twice called 911 for help from his cellular phone, authorities were unable to determine his location and were unable to locate him for more than four hours.

The suit claims that had the county been using the newer "Phase II" wireless technology, police would have been able to pinpoint Regnier's location to within 500 feet. County officials say they now have that technology up and running.

McHenry County Judge Maureen McIntyre is scheduled to hear arguments on the county's motion to dismiss the lawsuit Nov. 21.