Trial opens in Elgin hammer attack

Phillip Sorrentino was so irate when he found the locks on his house had been changed, prosecutors say, he bludgeoned his father-in-law in the head with a hammer.

The defense, meanwhile, alleges the father-in-law was the aggressor, and that Sorrentino wrestled the hammer away in self-defense.

Cook County Judge James Etchingham on Tuesday heard the conflicting opening statements in the first day of Sorrentino's bench trial.

Sorrentino's father-in-law, 59-year-old Victor Fernandez, was the first of three witnesses called by prosecutors.

Fernandez testified that on May 22, 2007, his daughter, Elizabeth Fernandez, asked him to come over to the house at 1328 Dale Drive, Elgin. Sorrentino lived in the house, though he sold it to Fernandez in 2004. Elizabeth had moved out with the children months earlier when the couple separated.

His daughter said they had to talk to Sorrentino -- a former Cook County sheriff's deputy -- because soon she and their two children would have no place to live. They planned on asking Sorrentino to move out, Fernandez testified.

When Sorrentino returned, he found his father-in-law and estranged wife inside and the locks changed. They let him inside, where Sorrentino began yelling and insulting his daughter, Fernandez said.

When Sorrentino's mother arrived, the four got into a heated argument in the kitchen, where the hammer was on the counter.

Fernandez, who lives in Lake in the Hills, said he tried to calm everybody down and turned away from Sorrentino. He awoke on the floor moments later, his head covered in blood.

An ambulance took Fernandez to St. Alexius Hospital in Hoffman Estates for what an emergency room doctor testified were three superficial head wounds. His skull wasn't fractured.

Etchingham didn't see any scars when he examined Fernandez, who said he still has headaches, pain and problems sleeping.

Assistant State's Attorney Shari Chandra said Sorrentino admitted "to an unprovoked attack to the back of the head of a man who's 20 years his senior."

Shelly Anderson, formerly of the Cook County state's attorney's office, interviewed Sorrentino shortly after the incident. Sorrentino told her it was Fernandez who picked up the hammer and attacked.

Sorrentino went into survival mode, "locked in a battle face to face" with Fernandez, Anderson testified.

Sorrentino said he wrestled away the hammer, but he told Anderson he didn't recall whether he used the weapon or his hands to hit Fernandez.

The state will call a detective to testify when the trial resumes at 1:30 p.m. today.