Man will face 2nd trial on Will County State’s Attorney harassment case

A judge was not persuaded by a defense attorney’s claims that a prosecutor orchestrated a mistrial so he could get another chance to prosecute a man charged with harassing the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office.

As a result, Richard Gabrys, 63, of Petersburg, Illinois, will once again undergo a trial on Oct. 23 on misdemeanor charges of harassment by telephone and harassment through electronic communication.

Gabrys was arrested by Joliet police officers last year on charges alleging he made calls in 2021 to the state’s attorney’s office with “intent to abuse or harass [Will County State’s Attorney] James Glasgow and his receptionists.” He’s accused of “screaming obscenities” in these calls.

The first trial against Gabrys began March 28 but resulted in a mistrial the next day. Richard Waller, one of Gabrys’ attorneys, then filed a motion on June 21 to have the case dismissed on double jeopardy grounds.

At a court hearing on Monday, Waller argued that Special Prosecutor William Elward committed a number of egregious errors during trial that “robbed” Gabrys of his constitutional right to due process. Elward is typically assigned to cases where Glasgow’s office has a conflict of interest.

Gabrys was sitting in court wearing a lime green neck brace, disposable blue face mask and sunglasses.

Elward insisted he never wanted a mistrial because the “evidence in this case was overwhelming.” He said he fought “vigorously” against a mistrial.

“Experienced lawyers make mistakes,” Elward said.

Judge Sherri Hale denied Waller’s motion to have the case dismissed on double jeopardy grounds. She also denied another motion to reconsider her ruling that Gabrys’ case could not be dismissed under the argument that it violated his constitutional right to freedom of speech.

Hale said she heard nothing on Monday that moved her to believe that Elward “goaded” Gabrys’ attorneys into requesting a mistrial. She said she believed there was enough evidence in the case to send it to a jury.

At the outset of Monday’s hearing, Waller said, “This is going to be a long and uncomfortable conversation.”

Waller said Gabrys’ right to due process and constitutional protections were “thrown away.” Waller then talked about his own feelings on the case, saying it kept him up at night and infuriated him.

Elward interrupted Waller and asked Hale, “Can we get to the legal argument? This is ridiculous.”

Waller said he wanted to recount the events that led to the mistrial on March 29. Yet Hale told him she didn’t want a rehash of the trial because she could read his motion, which had the details of what happened.

Waller argued Elward knew he had a “legally insufficient” case against Gabrys.

Waller said Elward realized he had no example of Gabrys’ voice to link him to the charges. But Elward was able to get one when Hale asked Gabrys – in front of the jury – a question on whether he wanted to testify.

Waller said he “genuinely had no idea why that occurred.”

“I have never seen that,” he said.

Waller and Hale had a dispute about whether there was more than one trial. Waller argued that when Hale “reopened proofs” to allow more evidence from Elward to come in at the trial, he considered that another trial. Hale later said that reopening proofs in a case is not uncommon.