CHICAGO — Prosecutors said Tuesday that they have turned over a huge amount of evidence to defense attorneys for the man accused of killing seven people in a shooting on the Fourth of July in Highland Park.
The update came at the first court hearing since August for Robert Crimo III, who has been charged with more than 100 felonies in the shooting. Authorities say Crimo also wounded dozens of other people by firing a semi-automatic rifle into the crowd watching the Highland Park holiday parade.
Lake County Assistant State’s Attorney Ben Dillon said prosecutors have given more than 2,500 pages of written material to the defense, along with audio and video recordings. They are expecting to tender a substantial amount of additional discovery material within the next few days.
Crimo’s attorney, Anton Trizna, an assistant public defender for Lake County, said that based on the amount of material they need to read and organize, it didn’t make sense to have another court date in the near future. Judge Victoria Rossetti set Jan. 31 for the next case management conference.
After the hearing, Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said that police have been collecting and reviewing surveillance video from stores in downtown Highland Park in the area near the shooting.
Tuesday’s appearance was Crimo’s first in a Lake County courtroom since Aug. 3, when he entered a not guilty plea to 117 felony counts.
Since that appearance, Crimo, of Highland Park, turned 22, in late September in custody at the Lake County jail where he is being held in lieu of bond.
Over the last three months, he has been named in a dozen lawsuits that have been filed on behalf of parade shooting victims. The suits have targeted Crimo and the manufacturer of the assault rifle Crimo allegedly used to fire more than 80 rounds from a store rooftop into the crowd gathered in downtown Highland Park for the parade. The store where Crimo bought the rifle is also named, as is Crimo’s father.
After the shooting, Crimo initially evaded arrest by disguising himself as a woman and blending into the retreating crowd, police allege. Within hours, police identified him as a person of interest, and he was arrested later that day after a North Chicago police officer spotted Crimo in his car on U.S. Route 41.
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(Tribune reporter Robert McCoppin contributed to this story.)
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