A judge set dates for upcoming pretrial hearings in the case of alleged Highland Park parade shooter Robert Crimo III at a brief court proceeding Thursday that the defendant did not attend.
Lake County Judge Victoria Rossetti waived Crimo’s presence after his public defenders said he “declined transport” from the county jail, where he is being detained for the July 4, 2022 mass shooting that killed seven people and injured dozens more.
The attorneys did not give a reason for Crimo’s reluctance to come to court, and Rossetti told them to remind the defendant that his lack of attendance would not delay the case.
Crimo is scheduled to stand trial in February. The judge set an interim date in October for case management, and scheduled a hearing on Nov. 14 to hear pretrial motions.
Thursday’s hearing was the first since June when Crimo’s attorneys and prosecutors expected to resolve the case with a negotiated plea. Crimo, however, declined to accept the terms of the proposed plea deal, which would have resulted in a sentence of life in prison.
