The first court trial involving the E2 nightclub disaster ended almost as soon as it began Tuesday after a Cook County judge declared a mistrial based on opening remarks from a city attorney that the judge deemed “troublesome” and “improper.”
Judge Daniel Lynch stopped the trial less than 15 minutes after it opened. Dorothy Capers, a deputy corporation counsel for the city, was interrupted in her opening statement when a defense attorney for nightclub owner Dwain Kyles objected.
Capers had just finished telling jurors that the defense would try to confuse them during the trial about details involving a Cook County Housing Court order issued by the city. Defense attorneys claimed Capers had prejudiced their case by telling jurors about evidence that they might not present and by implying that Kyles would testify, which might not happen.
The judge agreed with the defense attorneys.
The city has charged Kyles and Calvin Hollins, his alleged silent partner, with criminal contempt for allegedly violating city building codes in operating E2, the site of the Feb. 17, 2003, stampede that killed 21 patrons. The pair could face more than a year in prison if convicted.
On Wednesday, Lynch will consider a motion from defense attorneys to dismiss the case. After the mistrial, Kyles’ attorney, Michael Monico, argued that subjecting the defendants to a second trial would constitute double jeopardy.
Still, an attorney for the city predicted that a second trial would go forward, and that the city would win.
“We had a little bump along the road today,” said Walter Jones Jr., an attorney retained by the city. “And we expect, of course … that we will prevail. This fight is a long way from over.”
The case has been mired in legal wrangling for more than a year. At one point, defense attorneys even sought to have Lynch tossed from the case, because they said he would be called as a witness. They argued that because Lynch presided over the code dispute with the city, his testimony would be needed, but Lynch ruled against them.
Kyles, Hollins and the E2 corporate entity are accused of opening the club on the day of the stampede, which started after someone used pepper spray to break up a dance-floor fight. Patrons fled for the doors, crushing one another in a narrow staircase. The city contends that it had ordered the club closed for violating building codes. A city inspector had found that steel trusses supporting a mezzanine floor above the dance area were cracking.
Kyles’ attorneys argue that Kyles never realized the city order meant he was supposed to close the entire club. Monico said evidence would show that a city inspector wrote a letter to a city attorney saying that the order called for only the mezzanine floor to be closed.
Kyles and Hollins also face involuntary manslaughter charges in Cook County Criminal Court. A trial date for that case has not been set.
