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For the past 21 years, The Filipino Express has provided the Filipino American community the best news, arts and entertainment coverage from around the United States and the Philippines.
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CHICAGO – The trial of a co-accused in the murders of seven Brown’s Chicken restaurant employees, including two Filipino high school students, is getting closer after the Illinois Appeals Court reversed a March 31st a ruling by a judge who threw out the video confession of James Degorski, citing civil rights violation.
If Degorski appeals the ruling before the Illinois Supreme Court, his trial before Cook County Circuit Court Judge Vincent Gaughan in Chicago, Illinois will likely be delayed for a few more months.
However, if he does not appeal, which is very unlikely, Degorski can be tried in earnest by Judge Gaughan. A phone call placed on Degorski’s defense lawyer, Mark A. Levitt, by this reporter for comment was not returned.
Juan Luna, Degorski’s co-accused in the case, had already been convicted by Gaughan last year. Luna is now serving his life sentence at Stateville state prisons.
Degorski was scheduled to be tried early this year. But the trial was postponed as parties awaited the ruling of the Appellate court, which overturned the ruling of Gaughan that showing the confession of Degorski that he committed the crime before the jury will violate Degorski’s Miranda Rights.
In a decision that reinstates the prosecution's strongest evidence against Degorski, the appellate court ruled Monday that jurors can watch a videotape in which James Degorski acknowledges his role in the 1993 slayings.
Degorski, now 35, admitted in the 4 1/2-minute video, that he killed two of the seven people slain at the Palatine fast-food restaurant. Judge Gaughan had thrown out the tape last year, saying authorities should have reread the defendant his rights before filming the statement.
A videotaped confession helped prosecutors convict Luna in a jury trial last May.
Prosecutors video recorded Degorski shortly after he was arrested in May 2002. It shows Assistant State's Attorney Michael McHale -- now a judge -- describing the crime to which Degorski has allegedly confessed off-camera: "During the robbery, you shot two people in the cooler, and Juan shot the other five ... Is that correct?"
"Right," Degorski says.
McHale then gives Degorski his Miranda rights, at which point Degorski cuts off the interview. But Appellate Judge Denise O'Malley said Degorski already had been given his Miranda warnings while in custody.
Prosecutors appealed the decision and argued that authorities informed Degorski of his rights several times in the hours before the cameras were turned on. In a 2-1 opinion Monday, the panel overturned Gaughan's decision and agreed the Miranda warnings had not grown stale over the course of the interrogation.
Appellate Justice Denise O'Malley wrote in the ruling, "We hold that the evidence demonstrates that [the] defendant had not become unaware of his constitutional rights and knew that he was in custody and being interrogated as a suspect in the murders."
The decision is a boost for the prosecution, which has no physical evidence linking Degorski to the crime scene. His co-defendant, Juan Luna, was convicted last year largely because prosecutors could tie him to the murders through DNA and a palm print found on a discarded napkin.
Without the video, the prosecution's case against Degorski depends largely on testimony of two women who contend he confessed his involvement to them.
Jurors in the trial of Luna considered the testimony of the two women unreliable and did not present their testimony.
Assistant State’s Atty. Allan Spellberg said, "We felt the video was important enough [to the case] to appeal. The law didn't require the rights to be readministered."
Degorski's attorneys, however, argued the Miranda reading had grown stale in the 18 hours between his last warning and the video recording. For much of that time, Degorski was out of the interrogation room and sleeping in a holding cell.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Jill McNulty sided with Gaughan and the defense team.
The brief video contrasts sharply with the 45-minute statement given by Luna the same day at another police station. In that tape, Luna gives a detailed account of the events in the restaurant, including how he slit the throat of store owner Lynn Ehlenfeldt but blaming Degorski for most of the killings.
Luna was sentenced to life in prison last May after a lone juror's vote spared him from the death penalty. Degorski, who has pleaded not guilty, also faces the death penalty if convicted.
The January 1993 massacre of seven people has been one of the Chicago area's most notorious unsolved crimes. Police believe that the slayings happened shortly after 9:10 p.m. on Jan. 8, when the killers forced at gunpoint the franchise co-owner Lynn W. Ehlenfeldt to open the safe that yielded from $1,800 to $1,900.
When Ehlenfeldt, 49, hesitated, Luna, who was no longer an employee of the fast food chain at the time, admitted slitting her throat. Then, Luna and Degorski ordered her husband and co-owner, Richard E. Ehlenfeldt, 50, of Arlington Heights; and their five employees: Guadalupe Maldonado, 46, of Palatine, the cook; Michael C. Castro, 16, and Rico L. Solis, 17, both Palatine High School students working there part time; and Palatine residents Thomas Mennes, 32, and Marcus Nellsen, to get inside the walk-in freezer and they alternated and killing them with a single six-shooter .38 caliber revolver obtained by Degorski.
Castro’s father, Manny, is a native of San Miguel, Bulacan, Philippines. Solis is a native of Makati City. (lariosa_jos@sbcglobal.net)
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JERSEY CITY– Irbeth Hate is your typical FilAm teenager: She loves hanging out with friends, singing, shopping and dancing. However, there’s one thing she loves that makes defines her this early in her life – cheerleading.
16-year old Irbeth has been into cheerleading since she was eight. Now, she is part of the newly crowned high school national cheerleading champions, the North Arlington High School Cheerleaders.
The school’s cheerleading team won the coveted 14th AmeriCheer InterNational Cheerleading Championship held at the Walt Disney World Resort last March 16, after beating early favorites, Lakeview, Michigan.
Irbeth is the only Filipino-American in the team and she is very happy to be part of a winning cheerleading team: “I didn't really know how to react at first. When the announcer announced Lakeview, Michigan getting second place, my heart dropped because I knew that we had just won. We all hugged each other with all of our might and cried for joy because all of our hard work and dedication to cheerleading had finally paid off. I made the sign of the cross and thanked God for all the blessings he has given my team and I.”
Although, she already won a championship, she is not putting down her pom-poms at all. In fact, she wants to be a cheerleader for a professional team one day: “I will definitely consider trying out for a professional basketball or football cheerleading team as a side job after I graduate from college. I would also consider being a high school cheerleading coach.”
When asked how hard it is to be a cheerleader, Irbeth believes that it is the hardest and most challenging sport: “I believe that cheerleading is the hardest sport because you only have two minutes and 30 seconds to show the judges what you have. Lifting people up in stunts would have to be the most difficult because if one person doesn't do something right, then everyone could get hurt. This year my team has gotten punched and slapped by each other from cheerleading which caused many bad bloody noses, black eyes, swollen lips, bruises, and sore joints. But in the end it all pays off when you bring home the 1st place trophy and an International Championship title.“
Irbeth is proud to be Filipino and she just can’t get enough of Kare-Kare with Bagoong. Perhaps her proud parents, Reynaldo and Irma Hate would give her extra presents aside from her favorite dish after being a top national cheerleader.
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WASHINGTON, DC- The National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity (NAFVE) commemorated one of the key battles of World War II with a slate of events in Washington, DC, to honor all those who served in the U.S. military.
April 9 marks the fall of Bataan and the infamous Bataan Death March. The Philippines recognizes it as the Day of Valor, and Filipino American communities in the United States mark the day by raising awareness of the ongoing struggles of Filipino soldiers who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II.
In 1946, the United States Congress passed the Rescission Act, which revoked the United States veterans status from Filipinos who served in the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II as, in essence denying their service and sacrifice. The Filipino Veterans Equity Act is a bill in the U.S. Congress (HR 760 in the House, S. 1315 in the Senate) which will restore their status as U.S. veterans and redeem their service to the country for which they so bravely fought.
The commemoration was kicked off on Monday, April 7, by NAFVE’s National Call to Action, urging everyone to contact members of the House and Senate to support the Filipino Veterans Equity Act, and to demand the passage of the current bill, S. 1315 in the Senate and HR 760 in the House. In addition, NAFVE called for the House and Senate leadership to oppose any efforts to weaken the bill because our veterans deserve nothing less.
NAFVE provided an action plan that any individual or group can follow and adopt, complete with contact information of key members of the Senate and House Veterans Affairs Committees, sample letters, phone script, and message points.
On the same day, a documentary screening of "In Servitude with Honor and Dignity" by Margaret Lacson was also held by NAFVE, with support from the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance and the Human Rights Campaign. In Servitude with Honor and Dignity is a 30-minute documentary that depicts the historic and inspiring military service of active duty Filipino men and women in the armed forces of the United States. Major General Antonio Mario Taguba was present at the screening.
Major General Taguba became known worldwide when a classified report he wrote about cases of torture at the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq was published in 2004. Taguba is the second and latest Filipino American to attain General Officer rank in the U.S. Army.
On Wednesday, April 9, NAFVE joined the Philippine Embassy’s Day of Valor (“Araw ng Kagitingan”), which consisted of a day interspersed with a pair of Veterans Forums, Equity Marches, and Flag Raising and Sunset ceremonies. During the forums, special remarks were given by Ambassador Willy C. Gaa; WWII Veteran & Death March survivor Major Jesus Baltazar; George Wu, Deputy Director of OCA; and Karen K. Narasaki, President and Executive Director of AAJC. Representatives from NAFVE, the National Federation of Filipino American Association (NAFFAA), and American Coalition for Filipino Veterans (ACFV) participated in the events, along with officials and staff of the Philippine Embassy.
“The Day of Valor, by recognizing one of the most well-known moments of World War II, the Bataan Death March, is an opportune moment to remember the service of both Filipinos and Americans who fought for the United States,” said Jon Melegrito, NAFVE Co-Chair. “We welcome our friends and allies to Washington, DC and raise our collective voices for passage of the Filipino Veterans Equity Act.”
Throughout the week, NAFVE leadership from around the country will be visiting with offices of Senators and Representatives to talk about the Filipino Veterans Equity Act.
“Each day that passes, more of the veterans for whom we now fight pass away,” said Lillian Galedo, NAFVE Co-Chair. “We call on the members of the Senate and the House to bring this bill to a vote. We urge them to pass this legislation and reaffirm the United States’ commitment to treating ALL those who fought for it with dignity and respect.”
Out of the original 250,000 Filipino soldiers called to serve, there are only 18,000 veterans left.
NAFVE represents over 20 local, national and international organizations committed to securing full equity for Filipino World War II Veterans. More information about NAFVE and the Filipino Veterans Equity Act is available on the NAFVE Web site: www.nafve.org.
To contact NAFVE, please call Ben de Guzman at 202-422-4909 or via e-mail at nafve2007@gmail.com.
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