Killer's plea deal in jeopardy in 'Jamaican' case

Lawyers for a man awaiting trial in the slaying of an Elgin drug dealer want to be taken off the case, which could derail a deal to keep their client off death row.

Darren Denson, according to Kane County court documents filed March 14, is weighing an offer to plead guilty in the 2003 Elgin killing in exchange for a prison stint that would coincide with the 50 years he's already serving for a Wisconsin murder.

The agreement with prosecutors could unravel if Denson's attorneys are allowed to withdraw.

Doing so, "effectively puts the defendant in a position where he is again facing the death penalty," according to a motion to withdraw filed by attorney David Camic.

The request was made in part because Denson, formerly of Chicago, is considering a different lawyer to handle his Kane County murder case.

Negotiations among prosecutors and defense attorneys are common, but Illinois law bars lawyers from discussing agreements outside court, so the motion provides a public glimpse at efforts to close the so-called "Jamaican" case.

About midnight on Feb. 11, 2003, three men kicked in the door to Kyle Juggins' apartment on Abbott Drive, where the 32-year-old slept on a mattress next to his girlfriend and 18-month-old son.

Armed with a pair of handguns and a knife, the invaders demanded Juggins hand over his "20 stack," or $20,000 they thought was stashed in a safe, according to testimony at the trial of one of the robbers.

But Juggins, witnesses said, dealt in drugs and crime and expected trouble. He pulled a 9mm handgun -- which he had borrowed from another drug dealer known as "Tec" -- from under his pillow and opened fire.

He squeezed off one round before he was fatally stabbed and shot. His girlfriend and son were not injured. The robbers ran off after they realized there had never been any money.

Elgin police arrested three people -- two men and a woman, all who later were convicted or pleaded guilty -- in Juggins' slaying but were unable to find the fourth suspect, known on the street as "Jamaican."

When Denson was finally pegged as the elusive "Jamaican," he'd fled to Wisconsin, where, with a new crew, he embarked on a crime spree that ended in 2004 with a conviction for murder and robbery.

Denson, 36, was charged in 2006 in Juggins' murder and shipped to Illinois, where he faces the death penalty because he already is a convicted killer and because the Elgin slaying involved other felonies.

Camic's Aurora law firm was appointed to Denson's defense and as the case has inched through the court system, attorneys on both sides have considered a resolution without a trial.

But, according to the court documents, Denson appears to be balking at any deals on the table.

While temporarily jailed in Kankakee, Denson was injured in a fight and was approached by another attorney to represent him in a lawsuit against the Kankakee jail, the records show.

And since he's talked with another lawyer, Denson has accused Camic of stalling his case and thinks there should be a trial in the next six months, unlikely in a capital case, according to the records.

Denson's proposed agreement "would have resolved this matter with no additional time in prison other than that to which the defendant has already been sentenced," the record says.

A hearing on Camic's request to be withdrawn and how that will affect Denson's case is scheduled for June 26.

Greg Sams, who is prosecuting Denson, declined to discuss details of the matter, citing court rules, but said the death penalty has never been taken off the table in the case.

"The maximum penalty is always in play until the defendant signs a guilty plea," Sams said.