Lake Co. babysitter murder case goes to the jury

Juan Rivera's future was turned over to a Lake County jury for the third time Tuesday, and it deliberated six hours into the night before asking to go home at about 10 p.m.

The third trial for Rivera, 36, for the Aug. 11, 1992, rape and murder of 11-year-old Waukegan baby sitter Holly Staker ended around 4 p.m. after closing arguments that stretched out across the entire day. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1993 and 1998, but new trials were ordered after both convictions.

The panel of seven women and five men were charged Tuesday with the responsibility of deciding if Rivera will go home for the first time in more than 16 years or will return to prison. They deliberated just over six hours without reaching a verdict Tuesday, then were sent home for the night and ordered to return to their deliberations at 9 a.m. today.

Attorneys for both sides painted the case as a choice between two answers to the brutal slaying of the little girl - either Rivera's confession to police means he did it, or DNA evidence taken from Holly's body means he did not.

Lake County Assistant State's Attorney Eric Kalata told the jurors Rivera's confession contained details about the crime unknown to investigators until Rivera brought them up.

For instance, Kalata said, Rivera told police he ran into the woman whose children Holly was baby sitting in front of the crime scene before the woman ever mentioned it.

He told police to discount the fact no Rivera fingerprints were ever found in the Hickory Street apartment in which Holly died.

"Don't reward the defendant because he committed the crime too well," Kalata said. "Just because his fingerprints were not found at the crime scene does not mean he was not there."

Defense attorney Jeffrey Urdangen insisted the fact the DNA found inside Holly did not match Rivera's was the case-breaker, and that Rivera should be found not guilty.

"This is powerful and direct evidence that he was not at the crime scene," Urdangen said. "The justice system has failed so far, but no longer."

Prosecutors argued the sperm the DNA was taken from was too old and Holly may have had sex with someone who did not kill her.

Urdangen said that even though Holly's twin sister, Heather Staker, testified the sisters had their first sexual experience at age 8, there had been no evidence Holly had sex with anyone else after that experience.

He also attacked the confessions, saying police planted the words in Rivera's mouth after psychologically breaking him through extended questioning.

To accept that, Assistant State's Attorney Michael Mermel said, the jurors would have to ignore evidence that police were highly suspicious of another man earlier in the case but eventually determined he was not involved.

"If they were going to make up a statement and frame an innocent man, why didn't they make up a statement for (the earlier suspect)?" Mermel asked the jurors. "Better yet, why didn't they make up a better statement?"

Although he was clearly advocating for his own view of the case, Mermel's final words to the jurors before they began their deliberation applied to both sides.

"There are only 12 people in the universe who can do justice in this case," Mermel said. "You are those people."

Decide: Attorneys say it's confession vs. DNA