Supreme Court intervenes in Dugan case

Lawyers for Brian Dugan will not be required to videotape the convicted killer's mental health evaluations in an infamous Naperville murder case, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled this week.

The former Aurora man is accused of the abduction, rape and murder of 10-year-old Jeanine Nicarico of Naperville on Feb. 25, 1983. His trial begins Sept. 22.

If convicted, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Last year, DuPage Circuit Judge George Bakalis sided with the prosecution in ordering the defense to videotape Dugan's anticipated jailhouse interview with an expert forensic psychiatrist it hired to do an evaluation.

Bakalis ruled he may allow prosecutors to view the videotape if the defense chooses to use the expert as a witness at trial.

Defense attorney Steven Greenberg asked high court justices Jan. 12 to overrule Bakalis. Greenberg argued the judge's order oversteps what is allowed under the law and violates the defendant's rights.

In its one-page order, issued Wednesday, the high court agreed and directed Bakalis to vacate his ruling. Justices did not explain their decision.

"We're very pleased," Greenberg said Friday. "It's the correct ruling. If this order had stood, it would have violated defendants' rights and turned their attorneys into movie producers."

Dugan has been serving life prison terms since 1985 for two later sex slayings, one of which involved a child. Prosecutors cited improved DNA evidence more than three years ago when they indicted him in Jeanine's slaying.

Dugan long ago offered to plead guilty to Jeanine's murder, but only if his own life is spared. That is a deal DuPage State's Attorney Joseph Birkett and Jeanine's parents have said they could not stomach. Birkett argues Dugan is the poster boy for why the death penalty, regardless of the unofficial moratorium, remains Illinois' law.