A Cook County judge for the first time Tuesday firmly stated that he had ordered the entire E2 nightclub closed seven months before the February 2003 tragedy that claimed 21 lives, clarifying contradictory language contained in a Housing Court case file.
Since the incident, defense attorneys for the club, at 2347 S. Michigan Ave., have argued that Circuit Judge Daniel Lynch’s order on July 19, 2002, only pertained to the club’s skyboxes, a mezzanine above the main floor.
As evidence, defense lawyers referenced the “half sheet,” a summary of the case on the outside of the file, which for that court date Lynch had written, “Mirage will not occupy 2nd-floor VIP rooms.”
But Lynch said Tuesday the half sheet was irrelevant when compared to the legally binding court order he signed at the conclusion of that hearing that mandated the closing of the building’s entire second floor, where the club operated. A restaurant was on the first floor.
“The order’s the order. If I had meant anything differently, trust me, this [contempt case] would have been gone the first day,” Lynch said.
“You can’t take the court’s half-sheet entry and elevate it to the level of an order.”
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Compiled from RedEye news services.
