A defense attorney said he plans to call a retired Joliet police chief to testify at a pretrial hearing in a case where his client – a retired sergeant – is charged with unlawfully accessing the video of an arrested man overdosing in a squad vehicle.
Jeff Tomczak, attorney for retired Joliet police Sgt. Javier Esqueda, has filed a motion to keep police evidence out of Esqueda’s trial by claiming he was subjected to an illegal and retaliatory investigation by his own department for publicly disclosing the video of the arrest of Eric Lurry, 37.
Lurry’s overdose death in police custody on Jan. 29, 2020, led to protests in Joliet and a federal lawsuit by his widow, Nicole Lurry. That lawsuit remains pending in court.
Tomczak also alleged in a motion that the Joliet Police Department violated the Illinois Whistleblower Act with the investigation of Esqueda. Prosecutors in Kendall County have denied the department conducted an illegal or retaliatory investigation or violated the whistleblower act.
Tomczak’s motion is set for what is expected to be a long afternoon pretrial hearing on Oct. 26. Esqueda’s case is still scheduled to go to trial the following month.
After a brief court hearing in Kendall County on Monday, Tomczak told reporters that he anticipates calling several witnesses for the pretrial hearing, including Al Roechner, who retired as Joliet’s police chief in January 2021.
Tomczak said he wants to figure out how the investigation against Esqueda began because he...
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