Judge: Nun can wear habit at her trial
A nun involved in a crash that killed a Dundee-Crown High School student will be allowed to wear her religious garments when she stands trial next week on a traffic ticket, a Kane County judge ruled Friday.
Sister Marie Marot, 24, is charged with disobeying a traffic control device in the Oct. 7, 2007, crash that killed 16-year-old Keith P. Forbes II. The case goes to jury trial Monday in Geneva.
On Friday, prosecutors argued the nun from the Fraternite de Notre Dame in Chicago should be prohibited from wearing a traditional religious habit at trial, saying it could create prejudice among the jury and that her profession is irrelevant to the case.
Defense attorney Donald Brewer countered that the habit is of such importance to the order's beliefs, it is "just like their skin."
"We couldn't even think of taking off our religious habits," Mother Superior Marie Martha, who said she has worn a habit for 29 years, testified Friday at a hearing before Judge Ron Matekaitis. "I would die for it. I know she will not agree to (not wearing) it."
Marot's habit consists of a tunic and veil, and represents a "consecration with God," the mother superior told the judge. About 20 other nuns attended the hearing.
The crash happened at Route 72 and Randall Road as a southbound Ford E350 van Marot was driving went through the intersection and struck a 1993 Honda Civic in which Forbes was a back seat passenger, authorities said. A coroner's jury ruled Forbes' death an accident.
Attorneys and police said Marot, who has no criminal history and a clean driving record, voluntarily submitted to a blood test and there was no indication of drugs or alcohol.
Brewer said that, while "very sad," the fatal crash does not "have anything to do with this trial," which centers on whether Marot ran a red light.
"I don't think it has any relevance to whether the light was disobeyed, and that's what we're here for," he said. Marot faces a maximum fine of $1,000 if convicted of the petty traffic offense, but the case could potentially affect the outcome of a lawsuit pending against her.
Matekaitis agreed to prohibit testimony related to Forbes' death from the trial, but said he will allow witnesses to be questioned regarding some injuries they sustained in the crash to help establish credibility.
Marot, who speaks fluent French and little English, is being assisted at trial by an interpreter.
Forbes was an honor student and the youngest of seven children, relatives said. The teenager died at an intersection that had been named one of Kane County's most dangerous the year before.