Heavy security, warnings from the bench at Des Plaines murder trial
A metal detector greeted observers entering the second-floor courtroom in Skokie's Second Municipal District for Day 2 of the trial of 19-year-old Ashur Hidou, charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 stabbing death of Israel Moreno, known to friends and family as Kiki.
The increased security included property searches and pat-downs of observers, along with armed sheriff's police officers and a canine unit stationed outside the courtroom.
The measures presumably stemmed from an incident Monday when opposing family members exchanged words outside the courtroom. As a result, the victim's brother was excluded from the courtroom Tuesday. His father, Daniel Moreno, who is also the father of Israel Moreno, asked Cook County Circuit Court Judge Larry Axelrood to allow his son to return, but Axelrood denied the request.
"Decorum will be enforced," said Axelrood at the close of Monday's proceedings.
Tuesday's measures reflected his order. However, tension during morning testimony caused Axelrood to reiterate his warnings, adding that he would remove for the length of the trial anyone who disrupted the proceedings.
Prosecutors say Hidou, a Maine West High School graduate, stabbed Moreno, 21, eight times in the chest and back in the early morning hours of June 14, 2008, in the vicinity of Laurel Avenue and Washington Street in Des Plaines. Prosecutors claim Hidou and Moreno belong to rival gangs, but suggested that the rivalry did not cause the stabbing. Prosecutors say Moreno went to the home of former girlfriend Vanessa Claudio, called for her, but left after she didn't respond. They say Hidou, a friend of Claudio and her family, was there at the time. They say he left the apartment after Moreno called, and pursued the victim who was leaving the area and walking toward his home a few blocks away.
Prosecutors have painted Hidou as a killer, while defense attorneys claim he acted in self-defense after they say Moreno tried to recruit into his gang Claudio's younger brother.
Ramon Maldonado testified that he was at the Claudio apartment about 2 a.m. on the night of the murder and heard Moreno calling "Nessa." He said he recognized Moreno, whom he knew from the neighborhood, by his distinctive voice. About that time, Hidou told him he was leaving, Maldonado said.
Maldonado said he heard Moreno say, "Oh, that's what we're on," which he told police means "Oh, this is what's going to happen."
Maldonado then ran to the living room and told members of the Claudio family that he thought a fight was about to break out.
By the time he got outside, Maldonado said he saw Hidou and Moreno's friend Greg Latson struggling with the knife, as Moreno staggered a few steps and collapsed.
Maldonado testified that he and Vanessa Claudio ran to Moreno, who said "he was sorry and he loved Vanessa."
Under cross examination, Maldonado said he knew Moreno was in a gang but didn't know for how long. He also said he heard from people in the neighborhood that Hidou was in a gang but added that he never saw any gang tattoos and never noticed Hidou wearing gang colors.
With that, the prosecution rested. The defense presents its case Wednesday. Attorneys have indicated Hidou will testify in his own defense.
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<li><a href="/story/?id=376293">Trial begins in fatal Des Plaines stabbing <span class="date">[4/26/10]</span></a></li>
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