Phone records request denied in murder case
A Lake County judge Wednesday rejected most of the requests for phone records sought by attorneys for a man facing his third trial in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old baby sitter.
Lawyers for Juan Rivera said they want the records to track the contacts between police and a recently surfaced witness in the case.
Rivera, 35, has twice been convicted of the Aug. 17, 1992, rape and murder of Holly Staker in Waukegan. He was sentenced to life in prison after both convictions.
His first conviction was overturned on appeal and Circuit Judge Christopher Starck ordered a third trial in 2006.
In the buildup to the case's third hearing, prosecutors revealed they have a new witness who claims to have seen Rivera chasing the girl with a knife in his hand on the day she was murdered.
The witness, Lloyd Seay, was working to restart the natural gas supply in the Waukegan two-flat where Staker was caring for the children of one of her mother's friends.
Seay told police he thought the two were playing a game at first, but later went upstairs to an apartment where he encountered a young boy who appeared frightened.
Seay told police he re-ignited gas burners in the apartment and left.
In the days immediately following the discovery of Staker's body, he tried to tell a police officer what he had seen. That officer incorrectly informed Seay a suspect was already in custody and confessed, police said, and he told no one else about what he had seen until 2005.
Defense attorney Terri Mascherin told Starck on Wednesday the defense wanted phone records of Seay, his wife, the business his son operates, two former Waukegan police detectives and their wives.
Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Michael Mermel objected to the subpoenas, saying they were an attempt to intimidate Seay and not relevant to the case.
But Mascherin said the defense needed to know about contacts between Seay and police from March 27 to April 4, 2005 -- the time she said he first told his story to investigators.
"What is it that drove Mr. Seay to suddenly come forward after 13 years?" Mascherin asked Starck. "We need to investigate the unusual circumstances behind him making this fantastic statement."
Starck, who had ordered Rivera's team to turn over to him any records they received through the subpoenas, said he viewed most of the demands for records as an invasion of privacy.
He denied Rivera's lawyers any access to records pertaining to Seay's wife, his son's business and the private phones of the detectives and their wives.
Starck did say he would review the phone records from Seay's home for the time period in question and inform the defense of any contacts with police or prosecutors.
After ruling on the matter of the subpoenas, Starck scheduled the trial for June 16 and ordered Rivera to appear in court Feb. 28.