Hutsells 'weak link in the parenting chain'
(http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/479710,5_1_WA23_HUTSELLS_S1.article)July 23, 2007
BY NICHOLAS ALAJAKIS nalajakis@scn1.com
Lake County's most notorious party hosts have been found guilty of violating the state Liquor Control Act, nine months after two teenage boys died in a car accident at the end of their driveway during a drinking party in their home.
Jeffrey Hutsell, 53, and Sara Hutsell, 52, were found guilty Saturday of three of the four charges related to the drinking party their son held in the basement of their Deerfield home last Oct. 13.
The Hutsells stood and stared motionless in Lake County Circuit Court as the verdict on each count was read after nearly seven hours of jury deliberations.
? Use of residence in violation of the Liquor Control Act: guilty.
? Endangering the life of health of a minor: guilty.
? Attempt to obstruct justice by providing police with false information: guilty.
? Obstruction of justice by tampering with evidence: not guilty
The convictions underscore the importance of parents being more responsible for what happens in their home, said Lake County State's Attorney Michael Waller.
"You cannot host underage drinking parties in your home," Waller said. "It's a difficult issue, (but) we're very pleased with the verdicts."
On Oct. 13, 2006 -- the night of Deerfield High School's homecoming football game -- the Hutsells' 18-year-old son, Jonathan, threw a party that prosecutors say was attended by no fewer than 29 teenagers. A number of them have admitted to drinking at the time, but the Hutsells maintained throughout the trial that they were unaware that minors were consuming alcohol. The Hutsells were upstairs during the party and watched a baseball game.
Around 11:30 p.m. on the night of the party, two 18-year-olds were killed in a one-car crash at the end of the Hutsells' driveway that Deerfield police linked to alcohol, marijuana and excessive speed. Ross Trace of Riverwoods, a senior at Deerfield High, and Daniel Bell of Bannockburn, a 2006 Deerfield graduate, were killed and three other teens in the same car were injured when Bell drove into a tree, reportedly on their way back to the Hutsell house, after smoking marijuana.
The deaths of Trace and Bell drew immense attention to the case. Press photographers and broadcast news cameramen stalked the Hutsells at each of their preliminary court appearances and throughout the trial. After Saturday's verdict, the Hutsells snuck out of the courthouse through an underground entrance, along with their attorneys, without talking to the press.
In rare Saturday court action, the jury heard nearly three hours of closing arguments from the defense and prosecution before beginning deliberations.
The judge also decided to allow in evidence the arrests of Jonathan Hutsell in January and June 2006 for on charges of underage drinking.
Prosecutor Ari Fisz told them that the Hutsells had created an environment in their home that condoned underage drinking.
"This is a case about the disturbing lack of parental responsibility," Fisz said. "These defendants want you to believe they had no idea what was going on in the basement, despite the fact that they were one staircase away the entire night."
Fisz and lead prosecutor Christen Bishop spent much of their closing arguments on blasting the Hutsells for allowing drinking in their home.
"These are not kids who are flying under the radar screen," Bishop said. "These are parents who turned the radar off. They were the weak link in the parenting chain that night."
The Hutsells' defense attorneys, Robert Gevirtz and Elliot Pinsel countered these claims by telling the jury that their clients did not know the teens were drinking and that they never saw alcohol.
Gevirtz told the jury that his client, Jeffery Hutsell was an upstanding person and would not idly sit by and allow kids to drink.
"The only question is did he know (they were drinking)? It's not what he should have done. It's not what he could have done," Gevirtz said. "The kids made their own decisions. They made the decision to drink, they made the decision to go to the car and smoke dope."
During the course of the six-day trial, a number of the teenagers who attended the party testified, each giving an account of what they recalled. Some testified they remembered seeing Jeffrey Hutsell in the basement, with booze clearly evident. Others claimed the alcohol was hidden and that Jeffrey Hutsell never visited the basement.
Pinsel spent time Saturday questioning the credibility of Deerfield police detectives, accusing them of twisting information to get a conviction on a high-profile case.
Deerfield Police Chief John Sliozis said after the trial that he was fully confident in his officers' credibility.
"They acted appropriately," he said. "We were obviously very happy with the way it turned out."
