Robert Crimo III is led into the courtroom, during a Monday case management hearing. Crimo III dismissed his public defenders and will conduct his own defense. (AP Photo/Nam Huh, pool)

Robert Crimo III will act as his own defense attorney, forgoing public defenders selected to represent him, at his upcoming criminal trial. Lake County Circuit Court Judge Victoria Rossetti allowed the pro se request, during a case management hearing on Monday, Dec. 11.

Public defender Anton Trzina had a quick conference with prosecutors prior to the hearing to announce the unorthodox and unexpected action. Crimo III, 23, was questioned extensively by Rossetti on his legal knowledge and the potential consequences, given the gravity of the charges.

“You realize the best position is that counsel represent you,” said Rossetti. “You will receive no special privileges in jail, no assistance from the court … counts 1-21 are first-degree murder charges, with each one carrying a sentence of 45 years to life. Counts 22-50 are charges of attempted first-degree murder, which each carry a sentence of 26-500 years.

“Counts 70-117 are aggravated battery that each carry a sentence of 6-30 years,” she said. “Also, they can run consecutively. You have to subpoena witnesses, conduct your own defense, make opening and closing arguments. Do you wish to proceed without an attorney?”

Crimo III answered, “Yes. I also want to invoke my Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. My constitutional rights say my trial has to start in 120 days.”

Rossetti asked the prosecution whether they would be ready in the short amount of time, and after discussion, agreed their case can be presented. The case management hearing was ostensibly to set a trial date, expected to be in 2025, and instead pressed the start date to Feb. 26, 2024.

Rossetti also set Jan. 5 as the final date for any motions to be filed, and a Jan. 10 pretrial hearing for any procedural matters.

Prosecutors for the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office must prepare their court case over the holiday break. They were expected to issue a statement, after the hearing, then declined. Crimo III’s public defenders, led by Anton Trzina, also made no comment.

Crimo III is charged with killing seven people and injuring more than 40 others in a July 4 mass shooting in Highland Park last year. He is accused of climbing onto a downtown rooftop, and shooting at paradegoers lining Central Avenue, emptying nearly three 30-round magazine clips from a semi-automatic weapon.

He purchased the weapon and ammunition through a firearm owner’s identification card, obtained when he was a minor in 2020. His father, Robert Crimo Jr., signed an affidavit sponsoring the application for his son.

Seven felony counts of reckless conduct were leveled against the father for the action, one count for each victim. Prosecutors had threatened to use a transcript of a nearly eight-hour interview at the Highland Park police station, where Crimo III allegedly confessed to the shooting, and is now public record. They also had subpoenaed his uncle, and the uncle’s therapist.

A criminal trial was averted last month, when Crimo Jr. accepted a plea deal for seven misdemeanor counts, a 60-day jail sentence, community service, and voluntary revocation of his own FOID card.

Crimo Jr. said he agreed to the plea negotiation to spare his family being torn apart further in a public setting, as well the people of Highland Park “reliving” the incident. He began serving his sentence Nov. 15, appearing in a T-shirt that read, “I’m a political pawn,” outside the courtroom.

With Crimo III acting as his own attorney, any possibility for an appeal process is now contingent on his conduct and procedural acumen in the courtroom.