Retired Joliet police sergeant’s felony case set for Kendall County bench trial

A retired Joliet police sergeant will let a Kendall County judge determine whether he’s guilty of official misconduct by unlawfully accessing a controversial squad video that led to protests and a federal wrongful death lawsuit.

After four years of pretrial battles, the case against Javier Esqueda has been scheduled for a bench trial Dec. 16, according to Esqueda’s attorney, Jeff Tomczak. The trial may last a single day, or possibly two days, Tomczak said.

In 2020, Esqueda was indicted on four felony charges of official misconduct in Kendall County.

The indictment alleged Esqueda “while not on duty” on June 10, 2020, used a laptop in his squad car to access the department’s WatchGuard system and view “a video file which was locked” while he was “in a motor vehicle which passed through Kendall County.”

That video file shows the controversial 2020 arrest of Eric Lurry, 37, who died from a fatal drug overdose following his arrest in a police investigation.

The video led to protests and a federal lawsuit. The video showed Joliet Police Sgt. Doug May slapping Lurry in the face, saying “Wake up, [expletive]!” and pinching Lurry’s nose shut as other officers pulled bags of drugs out of his mouth.

In 2021, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul announced a civil investigation of the Joliet Police Department after several city officials, including former Joliet Mayor Bob O’Dekirk, raised concerns about the Lurry incident.

Dave Savini, CBS 2 Chicago investigative reporter, broke the story about the Lurry video and interviewed Esqueda. Court filings show Savini listed as a state witness in the Esqueda case.

Jody Gleason is the judge who will decide whether Esqueda is guilty of the official misconduct charges. Gleason, a former Kane County prosecutor, was appointed to the bench in 2019 by the Illinois Supreme Court.

Gleason was part of the prosecution team in the 2018 trial of former Chicago Police Officer Jason Van Dyke.

Van Dyke was convicted of the 2014 second-degree murder and aggravated battery of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald. That case also sparked widespread protests and a $5 million settlement to McDonald’s family.

On Sept. 10, Gleason granted Tomczak’s motion to block prosecutors’ evidence of motive in their case against Esqueda.

Gleason ruled that Esqueda’s case is about whether prosecutors can prove he accessed the Lurry video and whether he was authorized to do so. She said the case is not about Esqueda’s motive, which prosecutors are not required to prove.

The whistleblower issue will probably return but not necessarily in this venue.

—  Jeff Tomczak, attorney for retired Joliet police Sgt. Javier Esqueda

Prosecutors have sought to introduce evidence of two internal affairs investigations of Esqueda. They alleged Esqueda wanted to use the Lurry video as his “trump card” if he was disciplined or even fired following those investigations.

Gleason said prosecutors can ask Esqueda about those internal investigations if he takes the witness stand and tries to explain his actions at trial.

Tomczak had a pending motion to suppress police evidence based on claims that the police department violated Esqueda’s rights as a whistleblower. But prosecutors claim Esqueda cannot be considered a whistleblower under Illinois law. They further motioned Esqueda to not call himself a whistleblower at trial.

Tomczak said he withdrew his motion to suppress police evidence. He said there was no ruling on prosecutors’ motion to prevent Esqueda from calling himself a whistleblower.

“The whistleblower issue will probably return but not necessarily in this venue,” Tomczak said.

The lead prosecutor on Esqueda’s case is Kendall County State’s Attorney Eric Weis. He is a Republican who is running against Democratic challenger Jose Arnold Villagrana in the Nov. 5 general election.

Weis took over the Esqueda case after Mark Shlifka, the previous prosecutor, resigned after he was accused of having an improper sexual relationship with a witness and victim in two domestic battery cases and a defendant in a DUI case.