Bretz: Joliet Murder Re-Trial For Client Has Better Result

JOLIET, IL — There was no news release issued from the Office of Will County State's Attorney Jim Glasgow following last Friday's verdict in the re-trial of Joliet first-degree murder defendant Dymarion Porter. Back in 2008, Glasgow put one out.

At that time, Glasgow alerted journalists that the Joliet man would serve 100 percent of his 34-year prison sentence for causing the death of a 16-month-old boy on Halloween 2005.

“Dymarion Porter is a callous and brutal monster who snuffed out the life of an innocent little boy,” Glasgow's 2008 news release read. “The judge’s sentence will put Porter behind bars for a long time where he won’t have an opportunity to harm another child.”

Last Friday, following several months of courtroom testimony at the second murder trial for Porter, Will County Circuit Judge Dave Carlson found Porter guilty of involuntary manslaughter, not murder.

The little boy who died 16 years ago was the son of Porter's girlfriend at the time.

After Porter was sentenced to the Illinois Department of Corrections in 2008, he made the decision to hire Joliet attorney Chuck Bretz of Bretz, Flynn and Associates in hopes of overturning his long term prison and getting a new trial.

The Bretz law firm handled the appeal for Porter and attorney Joel Murphy drafted the appeal. In time, the Illinois Court of Appeals agreed to overturn Will County Judge Richard Schoenstedt's bench trial verdict and grant the Joliet man a new trial.

Then, last year, over the course of several months, the Will County State's Attorney's staff retried Porter in front of a different Will County judge, Carlson.

At his second bench trial, Porter was represented by Bretz and attorney Neil Patel.

After taking the trial evidence under advisement for several weeks, Judge Carlson announced his verdict last Friday.

According to prosecutors, Porter, then 25, was taking a shower when his girlfriend handed him her 16-month-old child, Jordan, for his cleaning. Jordan was in good health when given to Porter, who lived in the 200 block of Joliet's Sherry Lane.

After the shower, Porter put Jordan to sleep for a nap. A few hours later, Jordan was not breathing. The 2008 Will County sentencing documents indicate that Jordan died from blunt force trauma to his stomach and bled to death internally.

In many respects, Bretz said, Porter's re-sentencing, scheduled for May 10, is a moot point because Porter, now 41, has already served more time in custody than the maximum sentence will allow for his involuntary manslaughter conviction.

While Bretz would have liked to have got a not-guilty verdict for Porter, the downtown Joliet criminal defense lawyer said he was pleased with the overall result: Porter was not convicted of the most serious crime in Illinois: first-degree murder.

Bretz said the prosecution's evidence did not show that his client intended to kill the little boy.

Following Friday's involuntary manslaughter verdict, an assistant state's attorney asked Carlson to revoke Porter's bond and place Porter in the Will County Jail.

The judge rejected the prosecution's motion, ruling that Porter can remain a free person as he awaits the May 10 sentencing. The sentencing, as Bretz said, is more of a procedural formality for the judicial system than anything else.

After the May 10 sentencing on the fourth-floor courtroom occurs, Porter should be able to walk right back outside the new Will County Courthouse, according to Bretz.