Sub. teacher charged after taping pupils

Matthew Konetski probably isn't the first schoolteacher to wish he could tape an unruly student or two to their desks.

But unlike most, Konetski actually did it, and for that he's facing four felony charges that could put him in prison for as long as five years.

Jury selection is set to begin tomorrow for Konetski's trial on two counts of aggravated battery and two counts of unlawful restraint stemming from his choice of classroom discipline two years ago.

Konetski, 32, of South Beloit, Ill., was working as a substitute teacher at Jefferson Elementary School in Harvard on March 7, 2006 when two 8-year-old special education students repeatedly refused to stay at their desks.

Authorities allege Konetski, frustrated and fed up, brought out a roll of masking tape and taped the boys to their desks for about five minutes. And, for good measure, he wrapped tape around the boys' mouths to keep them quiet, police said.

Konetski's defense doesn't deny the basics of what happened. Instead, they say state law gives teachers the authority to restrain and discipline unruly students, so long as the discipline doesn't venture into the realm of corporal punishment.

The trial is expected to last just a few days.

Questionable testimony: Opening statements are still months away in Ken Smith's second trial on charges he murdered Lakemoor businessman Raul Briseno, but his chances of winning an acquittal could partly hinge on what happens in a McHenry County courtroom later this week.

Attorneys for Smith and county prosecutors are scheduled to face off in court starting Thursday over whether the defense can bring in testimony from a McHenry woman who claims someone else killed Briseno.

The woman, Susanne "Dallas" DeCicco, twice told police investigators that Smith is not responsible for Briseno's March 2001 slaying during a botched stickup of his Burrito Express restaurant in McHenry.

Instead, DeCicco has given detailed accounts naming her former boyfriend and a family member as Briseno's killers, claiming she was near the scene when it happened.

The McHenry County State's Attorney's office is asking Judge Sharon Prather to bar testimony about those allegations. DeCicco, they say, has told several different versions of her story and, as recently as last year, recanted her claims altogether while testifying under oath.

"The total recantation of previous statements represents DeCicco's most recent and final statement on the subject," Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney David Metnick said in court documents. "More importantly, this is her only statement on this issue that is made under oath."

Smith's defense, however, says he has a constitutional right to present evidence someone else committed the crime. That DeCicco took back her claims six years after she started making them is irrelevant, they argue.

"DeCicco's statements to friends, family and law enforcement authorities are the type (of evidence) that prosecutors frequently present in their own cases," Smith attorney David Jimenez-Ekman wrote.

Smith, 32, of Park City, faces first-degree murder and attempted armed robbery charges alleging he fatally shot the 35-year-old Briseno as the victim chased him and a second would-be robber out of his restaurant with a knife.

A jury convicted him in 2003, and he was sentenced to 67 years in prison, but the verdict was overturned a year later by an appellate court that ruled jurors heard improper evidence. His second trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11.