Teen club owner's trial starts today
A McHenry County judge will begin hearing evidence today in the trial of a former teen club owner accused of trying to extort to two men for $50,000 each after his business collapsed.
Daniel Bailenson, 35, faces two felony counts of intimidation stemming from allegations that surfaced in December 2006.
McHenry County Sheriff's police arrested Bailenson that month after two men, one from Bull Valley and another from Woodstock, claimed the former club owner left them voice mails threatening to kill their families if they did not meet his financial demands.
Bailenson, a Woodstock resident, denies the charges that could land him a maximum two to five years in prison if he is found guilty. He is opting to have his case heard by McHenry County Circuit Court Judge Sharon Prather instead of a jury.
Bailenson and his wife were the owners of Club NRG, a teen gathering spot that operated on the McHenry County Fairgrounds in Woodstock. The club was forced to close when the fairgrounds lease was not renewed in early 2006 and the couple could not find an affordable alternative location.
Arson appeal rejected: A state appeals court has upheld the conviction and jail sentence of a former Lake in the Hills man found guilty in 2005 of setting fire to his home to collect insurance money.
In a unanimous 3-0 decision, the Illinois Second District Appellate Court rejected Anthony Verive's claims that his trial judge made numerous errors that helped lead a jury to find him guilty on a pair of felony arson charges.
Verive, 43, later was sentenced to six months in the McHenry County jail and two years probation for setting the November 2005 fire that destroyed the home he shared with his wife. No one was injured in the blaze.
Authorities say Verive started the fire hoping to collect on a $300,000 insurance policy. At the time, prosecutors said, Verive was as much as a half-million dollars in debt and his home remodeling business was collapsing.
In his appeal, Verive claimed that presiding Judge Sharon Prather prejudiced jurors against him by allowing a former customer and former employee testify that he failed to do remodeling work for which he had taken payment and was behind on paying his workers. The testimony, Verive argued, made jurors believe he was a bad person.
The appellate court disagreed, saying the testimony only showed Verive had motive to set the fire.
"The purpose and effect of the prosecution witnesses' testimony was to accurately show the state of the defendant's business shortly before the fire," Justice Robert D. McLaren wrote.
Justices also rejected claims that his lawyer was ineffective and it was improper for jurors to see two bankruptcy filings Verive had made before the fire.