Videotape tossed in 2nd Browns murder trial

A brief videotaped statement that shows James Degorski acknowledging a role in the 1993 Brown's Chicken murders cannot be played in court, a Cook County judge ruled Friday -- unless Degorski takes the stand to testify.

Other statements made by Degorski but not caught on video can be used at his trial, set to start in February, Judge Vincent Gaughan decided.

Degorski's team of lawyers had set out to bar all of his statements, saying the comments were made under duress after hours of questioning and police intimidation.

They'd also asked Gaughan to overturn Degorski's arrest; Gaughan denied that motion.

Degorski, 35, will be the second man to stand trial in the slayings of seven workers inside the Palatine restaurant on Jan. 8, 1993.

Juan Luna, 33, was convicted of the murders in May. He's serving a life sentence.

Luna's videotaped statement -- a 45-minute, bullet-by-bullet account of the killing spree given the same day as Degorski's -- played a significant role in his conviction.

He also was linked to the crime by DNA found on chicken bones at Brown's.

Prosecutors have no such physical evidence on Degorski and now also will lack the taped statement he'd given.

Though that 4-minute tape is a sharp contrast to Luna's detailed confession -- it provides no details about what happened and little insight into a possible motive -- it does show Degorski acknowledging he played a part in the crime.

The tape begins with then- prosecutor Michael McHale saying Degorski already had told him that he and Luna had planned to rob Brown's.

"During the robbery, you shot two people in the cooler and Juan shot the other five and stabbed the lady," McHale says on the tape, referring to the slitting of co-owner Lynn Ehlenfeldt's throat. "Is that correct?"

"Right," Degorski answers.

McHale, who is now a Cook County judge, then reads Degorski his Miranda rights, including his right to remain silent. When he finishes, Degorski refuses to answer any questions about the crime, though McHale asks him several more times if he'd like to.

In the closing arguments of Friday's suppression hearing, Degorski's defense team said his statements were made under duress. They said he may have been intimidated into confessing -- noting it's impossible to know what had gone on behind closed doors before the tape was rolling.

The tape was made after hours of earlier questioning, but defense attorneys said there's no record of what had been said earlier, or to whom.

"This was a concerted effort on their part to elicit false statements (from Degorski)," Assistant Public Defender Mark Levitt said, noting police had known that getting a confession would help wrap up a case that had gone unsolved for nearly a decade.

He argued there was no probable cause to arrest Degorski in the first place and added that some things said on the tape perhaps allude to a preplanned charade.

Prosecutors, though, said all involved in the questioning did their jobs correctly.

"The evidence is clear that the Constitution was not violated," said Linas Kelecius, an assistant state's attorney who told Gaughan that Degorski was advised of his rights and also reminded of them.

Kelecius argued Degorski had cooperated with police throughout the process, voluntarily coming for questioning and consenting orally and in writing to giving the videotaped statement.

"There was no hint of reluctance," Kelecius said.

The video stops, he said, when Degorski clearly invokes his Miranda rights.

Also at issue was a confession a Cook County paramedic says Degorski made to her when she treated him for a broken jaw shortly after his arrest. His jaw was broken by a Cook County sheriff's deputy after Degorski was taken into custody. That officer, who said he acted in self-defense, later was found not guilty.

The defense suggested the injury was part of an effort to elicit a confession, but prosecutors argued otherwise.

In handing down his rulings Frdiay, Gaughan said he believes there was probable cause to arrest Degorski and said it was clear he had voluntarily cooperated with law enforcement authorities.

He also said he believes Degorski's statements were made voluntarily. He said there was nothing "unjust or unlawful or unethical" in the decision to further question Degorski on videotape. In tossing out the tape, he cited issues involving Miranda rights.

Degorski is scheduled to be back in court Oct. 23.