Attorney may call retired Joliet police chief to testify at hearing in leaked video case

A defense attorney said he plans to call a retired Joliet police chief to testify at a pretrial hearing in a case where his client – a retired sergeant – is charged with unlawfully accessing the video of an arrested man overdosing in a squad vehicle.

Jeff Tomczak, attorney for retired Joliet police Sgt. Javier Esqueda, has filed a motion to keep police evidence out of Esqueda’s trial by claiming he was subjected to an illegal and retaliatory investigation by his own department for publicly disclosing the video of the arrest of Eric Lurry, 37.

Lurry’s overdose death in police custody on Jan. 29, 2020, led to protests in Joliet and a federal lawsuit by his widow, Nicole Lurry. That lawsuit remains pending in court.

Tomczak also alleged in a motion that the Joliet Police Department violated the Illinois Whistleblower Act with the investigation of Esqueda. Prosecutors in Kendall County have denied the department conducted an illegal or retaliatory investigation or violated the whistleblower act.

Tomczak’s motion is set for what is expected to be a long afternoon pretrial hearing Oct. 26. Esqueda’s case still is scheduled to go to trial the following month.

After a brief court hearing in Kendall County on Monday, Tomczak told reporters that he anticipates calling several witnesses for the pretrial hearing, including Al Roechner, who retired as Joliet’s police chief in January 2021.

Tomczak said he wants to figure out how the investigation against Esqueda began because he was initially indicted on charges alleging he committed an administrative rule violation, not a crime.

“I want to know how did this get started, who was involved in starting it, and I’m also interested in knowing why are we here in Kendall County,” Tomczak said.

Tomczak previously tried to get his client’s case moved to Will County.

After a May 6, 2021, court hearing, Kendall County Judge Robert Pilmer denied Tomczak’s request to move the case because he believed “there’s been a sufficient showing that there is some connection to Kendall County.”

Prosecutors have motioned to not only prevent Esqueda from calling himself a whistleblower at trial but also introduce evidence that Esqueda was motivated to disclose the Lurry video because he was the subject of internal affairs investigations. Pilmer has not yet ruled on those motions.

Tomczak objected to the prosecutors’ motions because evidence at trial will show Esqueda was required to log into the WatchGuard computer system as part of his duties as a field supervisor. He also said in a motion the motive of a person accessing a computer has no relevance on whether they had the authority to do so.

Tomczak alleged in a motion the Lurry squad video “shows a potential voluntary manslaughter of Mr. Lurry as one of the police employees prevents Mr. Lurry from taking a breath for [1 minute and 38 seconds], resulting in his ultimate death.”

In a motion, Kendall County Assistant State’s Attorney Mark Shlifka denied the video shows a voluntary manslaughter or even a second-degree murder. Shlifka said an officer can be seen pinching Lurry’s nose but also telling him to open his mouth.

“The video never shows the officer obstruct the subject’s ability to breath through his mouth,” Shlifka said.

Will County State’s Attorney James Glasgow cleared Joliet police officers involved in the Lurry incident of any wrongdoing over Lurry’s arrest. He said a toxicology report issued by the forensic lab indicated Lurry had fatal amounts of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine in his system.