Charles Langston:Case against Robert Crimo Jr., father of Highland Park parade shooting suspect, can go forward, judge rules

Judge refuses to dismiss case against father of accused Highland Park shooter

A judge on Monday refused to dismiss the case against a father who helped his son obtain a gun license three years before authorities say the younger man fatally shot seven people at a 2022 Fourth of July parade in suburban Chicago.

Illinois prosecutors charged Robert Crimo Jr. under a unconstitutionally vague law, his lawyer argued at a hearing earlier this month in Waukegan, north of Highland Park where the shooting took place.

Lake County Judge George Strickland rejected that argument, as well as a defense contention that prosecutors charged Crimo Jr. too late - after a three-year statute of limitations had passed. The court's rulings mean Crimo Jr.'s Nov. 6 trial will go head as previously scheduled.

The judge said at the hearing earlier in August that he would take three weeks to mull a decision, and he announced his ruling at a Monday hearing, which was also in Waukegan. He heard additional arguments on the statute of limitations issue Monday before ruling on it.

Crimo Jr. pleaded not guilty earlier this year to seven counts of reckless conduct — one count for each person killed. Each count carries a maximum three-year prison term.

Prosecutors had alleged that he helped his son, Robert Crimo III, obtain a gun license even though the then-19-year-old had threatened violence.

In Illinois, 18-, 19-, and 20-year-olds may only obtain a Firearm Owner's Identification card with parental sponsorship, CBS Chicago reported.

The four-sentence section of the state law invoked to charge Crimo Jr. says "a person commits reckless conduct when he or she, by any means lawful or unlawful, recklessly performs an act or acts that ... cause great bodily harm or permanent disability or disfigurement to another person."

A defense filing argued that the law's lack of specificity makes it impossible to know what actions qualify as criminal reckless conduct. They also say it offers no definition of "cause," opening the way for prosecutors to wrongly link the signing of a gun license application to a shooting years later.

"Here, the reckless conduct charge ... specifically seeks to criminalize the Defendant's lawful act of signing a truthful affidavit," according to the filing. It adds that, until Crimo Jr.'s case, "Illinois has never prosecuted an individual for signing a truthful affidavit under oath."

Crimo Jr.'s lawyer, George Gomez, argued earlier this month that prosecutors interpreted the law in an overly broad way that could create a "chilling effect" for residents who would worry that signing any affidavit, in this case a firearm owners ID application, could eventually be deemed reckless conduct.

Gomez also said the law doesn't define "cause," opening the way for prosecutors to wrongly link the signing of a gun-license application to a shooting years later.

Garson S. Fischer, an assistant Illinois attorney general, countered that the law was not overly broad, including because it is limited to reckless conduct that causes great bodily harm. He said the term "cause" was not constitutionally vague and that many state criminal laws using similar wording.

A grand jury indicted the son last year on 21 first-degree murder counts, 48 counts of attempted murder and 48 counts of aggravated battery, representing the seven people killed and dozens wounded in the attack. Potential evidence is voluminous in the son's case, for which no trial date has been set. He has pleaded not guilty.

Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart said after the father's arrest that the accusations are based on his sponsorship of his son's application for a gun license in December 2019. Authorities say Crimo III tried to kill himself in April 2019 and was accused by a family member in September 2019 of making threats to "kill everyone."

"Parents who help their kids get weapons of war are morally and legally responsible when those kids hurt others with those weapons," Lake County State's Attorney Eric Rinehart told CBS News at the time. 

The father is a familiar face around Highland Park, where he was once a mayoral candidate and operated convenience stores. He was released on a $50,000 bond after his December arrest.

Even though it is relatively rare for parents to face charges for their children's actions in mass shootings, prosecutors have filed charges in high-profile cases across the United States. The parents of accused Oxford, Michigan, school shooter Ethan Crumbley are facing multiple involuntary manslaughter charges for buying him a gun before he allegedly killed four students. The father of Waffle House shooter Travis Reinking was found guilty of returning a gun to his son, reported WSMV, who then killed four people in the Nashville Tennesse restaurant. 

In:
• Highland Park
• Illinois
• Gun Laws
• Mass Shooting