Joliet man charged in Halloween mass shooting can’t use cash bail for jail release

A Will County judge will not allow a Joliet man charged with a gang-fueled 2021 mass shooting to use cash bail to secure his pretrial release from jail.

On Tuesday, Judge Vincent Cornelius granted a defense motion to consolidate two cases filed against David Grijalva, 23, that involve shootings that took place during and after a Halloween party on Oct. 31, 2021 in Joliet Township.

But Cornelius denied a defense request to allow Grijalva to use 10% of the $200,000 bond he already posted in one case and use it for his pretrial release in a new case that was filed against him.

On Nov. 16, 2022, Grijalva had posted $20,000 for his release from jail in a 2021 case where he’s charged with attempting to murder a man who was fleeing the Halloween party shooting.

Then on Oct. 3, 2024, Grijalva was back in jail after he was charged as the fourth defendant accused of a mass shooting during the party that killed three people and injured five others.

Cornelius ruled the pretrial provision of the SAFE-T Act, which eliminated cash bail on Sept. 18, 2023, does not allow him to set a bond in the newest case filed against Grijalva. He said that even if he could set a bond in the new case, it’s not certain the bond would’ve remained at $200,000.

Grijalva’s case is set for a potential detention hearing on Nov. 19.

Cornelius’ decision differed from that of Will County Judge Carmen Goodman. She had allowed Grijalva to use the $20,000 bond for his pretrial release after she consolidated his two cases.

Goodman signed two court orders granting Grijalva’s jail release on Oct. 23. Yet Grijalva still remained in jail the next day.

On Oct. 24, Goodman vacated her own court orders when she recused herself because she had a Facebook connection with one of the victims in the case.

During Monday’s court hearing before Cornelius, Grijalva’s attorney, Chuck Bretz, again brought up how his staff had learned from jail personnel that they were instructed by the Will County State’s Attorney’s Office not to release Grijalva, despite a valid court order.

Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Shlifka told Cornelius their office did not direct the jail not to release Grijalva.

When Bretz inquired further on the basis behind Shlifka’s statement, Cornelius told Bretz the hearing on his motion to consolidate Grijalva’s cases was not the appropriate time to address that issue.

Bretz contends prosecutors filed the new charges against Grijalva so they could use the SAFE-T Act as a “sword” to circumvent his right to use the old cash bail system.

Shlifka said state law allows for the consolidation of cases for the purposes of a trial, not for setting bond.

Grijalva’s case represents yet another case where prosecutors under State’s Attorney James Glasgow find themselves having to urge judges to follow the requirements of the SAFE-T Act.

Glasgow was one of the biggest opponents of the law. In 2022, Glasgow joined prosecutors across the state in a failed lawsuit to stop the SAFE-T Act from replacing the cash bail system, which Grijalva tried to use for his own pretrial release.

While the SAFE-T Act eliminates cash bail, the law allows judges to keep defendants in jail if they are charged with violent crimes and if prosecutors can prove no conditions of pretrial release can mitigate their threat to the community or risk of fleeing prosecution.