No word on retrial in 2011 meat cleaver attack
A 62-year-old former cook must wait at least another month to learn whether he will face a second trial on charges he attacked the owner of an Elk Grove Village carryout restaurant and another employee with a meat cleaver in August 2011.
Authorities charged Mei with two counts of attempted murder and two counts of aggravated battery in the Aug. 15, 2011, attack which also injured a female employee who stepped between the men in an attempt to play peacemaker.
During his trial last month, Xiubin Mei claimed he acted in self-defense when he struck the owner of the China Bowl restaurant in Elk Grove Village with the knife following an altercation during which Mei claimed the owner punched him several times in the face, bloodying his nose and loosening two teeth. After about 12 hours of deliberation, a jury acquitted Mei of the attempted murder of the female co-worker but were unable to agree on the other charges.
Owner Rui Zhong, 43, testified that on the day of the attack that he warned Mei that he might be fired for working to slow. Mei claimed that Zhong fired him, ordered him to leave and then punched him. Mei further claimed he grabbed the knife in self-defense because he feared more punches.
The female co-worker who stepped between the two men suffered a skull laceration that required between 13 and 15 stables to close. Zhong suffered injuries to his face, ear and neck and nearly lost a finger, prosecutors said.
Defense attorney Barry Spector declined to speculate on future legal proceedings following Friday's hearing, adding that his client “realizes he can't control what (prosecutors) are going to do.”
Mei next appears in court on June 10.