A Cook County Criminal Court judge refused Tuesday to release a 911 call made on the night 13-year-old Lenard Clark was beaten in an allegedly racially motivated attack, saying he felt it would interfere with three white youths’ ability to get a fair trial.
Judge Daniel M. Locallo said releasing the tape would make it harder to select a jury because he feared the tape “would be played continually” on local radio and television stations.
A professor and a student at Northwestern University Medill School of Journalism had sought release of the tape under the Freedom of Information Act.
Exactly what is on the tape has not been made public.
John Elson, the lawyer for the professor and the student, argued in court Tuesday that under state law, the 911 tapes are public record and could only be kept from the public for special reasons. Elson said special instructions from the judge regarding any media coverage of the tapes could offset possible prejudicial concerns.
Victor Jasas, 18, Frank Caruso, 17, and Michael Kwidzinski, 20, are charged with attempted murder, aggravated battery and two counts of hate crimes for the March 1997 beating of Clark.
