MICHAEL LANGFORD Jr. - 5 yo (May 2010)/ Convicted: Mother's BF; Cecil Conner (DUI) - Chicago Heights IL

Officer, passenger offer different version of events before fatal crash


A Chicago Heights police officer testified Thursday that a drunken Steger man seemed fine when he allowed him to drive moments before a fatal single-car accident that killed a 5-year-old passenger. But the boy's mother, who also was in the car, testified that she pleaded with the officer three times not to let her highly intoxicated boyfriend drive.
The two versions of what happened during a May traffic stop intersected Thursday as attorneys for Cecil Conner, who is charged with aggravated drunken driving, began putting their defense before a Will County jury.
Officer Chris Felicetti had been on the job for a little over a year when he stopped Kathie LaFond May 10. LaFond, the designated driver, had just picked up Conner from his cousin's house, where he'd been drinking heavily all weekend.
Felicetti said that after she arrested LaFond on suspicion of driving with a suspended Arizona license, she told him, "It would be OK to turn the car over" to Conner. LaFond had told Felicetti that neither of them had been drinking, the officer testified.
"I did not smell alcoholic beverages on him, and he didn't have watery or bloodshot eyes," Felicetti testified.
Felicetti said he was standing about 2 feet from Conner at the time; a Steger detective previously testified that after the crash he could smell alcohol on Conner's breath from 6 feet away.
LaFond, who appeared alternately sad and angry during testimony, gave a much different account, saying that she immediately told Felicetti that Conner was drunk and that he repeatedly ignored her.
"I told him he couldn't drive my car; he's been drinking and I said my son is back there sleeping," LaFond testified, referring to Michael Langford Jr., 5. LaFond testified that Felicetti leaned into the car to look, and she added, "(Conner) was trashed."
Conner's attorneys said they plan to argue that Felicetti, not their client, was to blame for the crash.
Michael died after the car Conner was driving slammed into two trees in Steger. Conner's blood-alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit.
Jennifer Tartt, Conner's cousin, testified that he called her shortly after Felicetti allowed him to drive away.
"He sounded very upset, kind of panicky," Tartt testified. "Very choked up, like he wanted to cry. "To me it sounded like he was scared and didn't want to drive."
Judge Edward Burmila sustained objections to some of the emotionally tinged questions asked of Felicetti by defense attorney Jeff Tomczak, such as, "Do you blame yourself for what happened to Michael Langford?"
But a simpler question about what Felicetti's duties were seemed to trigger an emotional response in the officer.
"To serve and protect the public," he said, seeming to break down a little.

http://www.chicagobreakingnews.com/news/local/ct-met-steger-dui-trial-0218-20110217,0,81524.story

Boyfriend guilty in fatal DUI case
Defense argued police let man drive before crash that killed girlfriend's 5-year-old

February 22, 2011|By Alicia Fabbre, Special to the Tribune        

A jury Tuesday night found Cecil Conner guilty of several counts of aggravated drunk driving in a crash that killed the 5-year-old son of his girlfriend.

Defense attorneys consoled a teary Conner, 23, after the verdict, which came after nine hours of jury deliberations, was read.

"The concern we have is that, frankly, Cecil Conner is paying for a mistake made by the Chicago Heights police," defense attorney Jeffrey Tomczak said.

Tomczak said he plans to file a motion for a new trial.

Will County State's Attorney James Glasgow dismissed as preposterous arguments that police were to blame for the May 10 drunken driving crash that claimed the life of Michael Langford Jr.

"The responsibility is solely on the head of Cecil Conner," he said.

Kim Lozano, a cousin of the boy's father, said the verdict is "going to give us partial closure to a very horrible accident."

Lozano said she spoke with her cousin, Michael Langford Sr., by phone after the verdict. She said Langford told her he wants a maximum sentence of 14 years for Conner. The family still holds Conner; the boy's mother, Kathie LaFond; and police responsible for the accident, she said.

"At least one of the people responsible for this is being held responsible," Lozano said.

Before jurors began deliberations, Tomczak asked jurors Tuesday to consider how Conner found himself behind the wheel.

Tomczak reminded jurors during closing arguments that Conner did not plan to drive that night and that he had called his girlfriend to pick him up from a party. It was only after an early morning traffic stop in Chicago Heights, and his girlfriend's arrest for driving on a suspended license, that Conner landed behind the wheel of the car with his girlfriend's child asleep in the backseat.

"Consider this case in light of the Cecil Conner in the passenger seat," Tomczak said.

Tomczak argued that if it had not been for the traffic stop and direction from Chicago Heights police Officer Chris Felicetti to drive the car back to the police station, Conner would not have been behind the wheel.

"When a patrol officer puts the keys in your hands 20 minutes before the accident … that is not the average case," Tomczak said.

During the trial, Conner testified that he feared he would be arrested if he didn't drive the car.

"Don't hold him responsible for what that police officer did," Tomczak said.

Prosecutors, however, argued that Conner never spoke up about his inability to drive nor did he tell Felicetti he was drunk. When asked if he was OK to drive, prosecutors said Conner told Felicetti he could drive.

They argued Conner could have told the police officer he was drunk, stopped to call someone else to drive or call a cab, but he did none of those, they said. Felicetti also testified that he never threatened Conner with arrest that night.

"The defense will have you believe that this 12-minute stop gave (Conner) free rein to do what he did," said Will County Assistant State's Attorney Debbie Mills. "He wants you to ignore the choices he made that morning. It was his choices that led to Michael's death. Hold him responsible for the choices he made."

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-02-22/news/ct-met-steger-dui-closings-20110222_1_cecil-conner-officer-chris-felicetti-fatal-dui-case