CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois appellate court on Wednesday threw out guilty verdicts and vacated jail sentences for the owners of a Chicago nightclub where 21 people were crushed to death and dozens of others were injured in a stairwell in 2003.
CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois appellate court on Wednesday threw out guilty verdicts and vacated jail sentences for the owners of a Chicago nightclub where 21 people were crushed to death and dozens of others were injured in a stairwell in 2003.
E2 nightclub owners Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins, who have been free while their appeal was pending, were found guilty in 2009 and sentenced to two years in prison for violating a judge’s order to close the second floor of the club before the stampede. But the state appeals court on Wednesday reversed a housing court’s decision saying the order was not as clear as city prosecutors claimed at trial.
"Simply, under the facts of this case, we disagree that the formal order was as clear and unambiguous as the city maintains the law requires," Justice Michael Murphy wrote in a majority opinion. "This action is criminal in nature and the city faces the burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the underlying order was set forth."
The court said the city also didn’t explain how the violation caused the deaths or injuries.
The city’s law department was reviewing the case before deciding to take action, said spokesman Roderick Drew.
"We are disappointed with the court’s decision," the department said in an emailed statement. "In our view, respondents violated a clear and mandatory court order, and but for that violation no one would have died or been injured at their club that night."
Patrons were trapped and crushed in a stairwell during the Feb. 17, 2003, stampede after someone used pepper spray to break up a fight inside the club, authorities have said. The tragedy, along with fire in a Rhode Island nightclub three days later that killed 100, helped lead to a nationwide effort to step up nightclub safety measures.
Hollins was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter charges in 2007 and the same charges were dropped against Kyles in 2008. Later, the City of Chicago filed charges against the pair in housing court.
The two men had been ordered the year before the stampede to close the second floor level of the now-closed club. They claim they did close the structure’s balcony level, which they say was what the order actually intended to have them do.
Hollins said he knew several of the people who died very well and has mourned their loss, but maintains he did nothing wrong.
"I feel a combination of spiritual, mental and physical relief rolled up in one ball. It’s been an almost 10-year journey," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I knew in my heart of hearts that I did nothing wrong but to have an upstanding establishment. We were at that same location for 20 years without incident. So you can imagine, this has to be the most devastating thing that’s ever happened in my life."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP Photo/Morry Gash, File)
About Post Author
