Death penalty looms as case nears close

BY ERIC HERMAN

Staff Reporter, Chicago Sun-Times

May 9, 2007

Even if jurors in the Brown's Chicken trial reach a verdict today, their work might not be finished.

If jurors find Juan Luna guilty of murdering seven people at the Palatine restaurant in 1993, they face another mini-trial on whether to sentence him to death. Death penalty advocates say a guilty verdict could help their cause at a time when executions have ceased in Illinois.

"It will make it a little harder for Illinois legislators to completely abolish the death penalty," said State Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale), who says he is pro-death penalty in limited cases. "With names like Gacy and Speck, we certainly could add Luna."

Prosecutors and defense lawyers will deliver closing arguments today, sparring over whether Luna and his high school friend James Degorski committed the Brown's Chicken murders. Degorski will stand trial later.

If jurors convict Luna, 33, they must then determine whether he is eligible for the death penalty. There are 19 different factors that can prove eligibility, and prosecutors plan to argue three: multiple murders, killing while committing another felony, and murder according to a premeditated plan. If the 12 jurors vote unanimously on any of the three, Luna will be eligible.

If things get that far, prosecutors will present evidence and witnesses showing why Luna should be executed -- known as "aggravation" evidence. The defense will present "mitigation" evidence.

Defense witnesses could include friends and family members, psychologists and Luna's former teachers testifying he suffered learning disabilities. Even Luna's young son Brian is listed as a potential witness. Prosecutors could re-call star witnesses Anne Lockett and Eileen Bakalla, who already testified Luna and Degorski told them they committed the murders. Jurors penalty phases -- expected to last a week -- could be moot. Gov. George Ryan put a moratorium on executions in 2000 and Gov. Blagojevich has kept it in place.

The last execution in Illinois was in 1999. There now are 11 people on Death Row.

Jane Bohman, executive director of the Illinois Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, doubts the Brown's case will change the debate, in spite of the seven victims and grisly facts.

"Our system is focused more on the issues and the facts than in any one case, as disturbing as it may be," Bohman said.

Even without the moratorium, death penalty cases can spend 10 years or more in appeals, sources said.