Lake County Circuit Court Judge George D. Strickland speaks during an appearance by Robert Crimo Jr. at the Lake County Courthouse, Monday, Aug. 7 in Waukegan. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, Pool)

A defense motion to dismiss seven felony counts of reckless conduct against Robert Crimo Jr., father of the accused Highland Park July 4 parade shooter, will have to wait until an Aug. 28 hearing.

Lake County Circuit Court Judge George D. Strickland deferred his decision, following a case management session held Monday.

The Aug. 28 date will also feature arguments regarding a media pool request to televise the actual trial. A photographer from the Associated Press has already been approved for still photography coverage.

Crimo Jr. was indicted by the county grand jury with seven counts of reckless conduct in February for signing an affidavit as sponsorship for his son’s firearm owner identification card in 2019. The card allowed the son to purchase a weapon and ammunition magazines in Chicago that were used in the July 4 attack on Highland Park parade goers, last year.

At issue in the defense motion is the constitutionality of the reckless conduct statute being applied to Crimo Jr.’s case. Defense attorney George Gomez cited that the statute wording is vague and “all-encompassing,” while being applied without an “immediate cause and effect” by state prosecutors.

Another defense concern is the statute of limitations, as the affidavit was signed in 2019, and the shooting occurred in 2022.

“What was the intent of the legislature,” said Gomez. “The statute in, and of, itself, by signing the affidavit, restrains freedom of speech … a statute like this doesn’t make wholly innocent conduct (a relation) to cause and effect, which is how it is being applied. This is a matter of interpretation … the implications for innocent conduct.”

Gomez also noted the “time lapse” for the cause and effect, and “nowhere in case law is this defined, allowing the state to stretch (it) that a lot of conduct can be subject. The Illinois Attorney General’s Office provides that all you have to do is plug in ‘reckless conduct’ to make it constitutional.”

Garson Fischer, from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, was seated at the prosecution table. “The Supreme Court is clear that completing the affidavit is a matter of conduct, and this affidavit is done hundreds of times by parents. The defense argument that cause is considered vague, as written in the statute, then a raft of statutes like murder have been conflated.”

Fischer said his presence was to address the constitutionality of the reckless conduct statute. Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said, “The statute of limitations term started the day of the shooting, July 4, of last year … not when the application and affidavit were submitted.”

Assistant State’s Attorney Jeff Facklam said that each indictment had the statute.

“It cited some specificity of the act … the indictment says who pulled the trigger,” he said

Robert Crimo III, the defendant’s son, is charged with 21 felony counts of murder and more than 40 other felony counts stemming from the July 4 shooting.

“My opinion is that until I can make a decision on the findings of fact, as applied, when someone signs an affidavit and the firearms are used to kill people … I need to know more about the relationship between the father and the son,” said Strickland.

Facklam said that school records for Crimo III had been obtained and shared with the defense, as both sides noted the discovery phase for the sharing of information is done.

The other matter related to a media request for video broadcast coverage of the trial hinges on whether the witnesses want to testify with a camera present in the courtroom. Facklam said the prosecution is in process of contacting their potential witnesses, while Gomez indicated nearly 80 percent of the defense witnesses have been notified.