Illinois Carjacking Trial Begins Without Defendant – Trial in Absentia

A criminal case surrounding the carjacking of a young mother began Tuesday in Cook County, despite the fact that the defendant was nowhere to be found.

Michael Buhrman, 31, was scheduled to appear in court Tuesday on charges stemming from an incident in which he allegedly carjacked a vehicle in a parking garage at gunpoint.

According to the plaintiff, she was spending her work break in her car when an old man approached her to see if she needed any help.  The woman got out of the car to speak to the man, and he pulled out a handgun.

The man sped off in her vehicle, but he was stopped by police a few minutes later.  When they approached the car, they noticed that Buhrman had a handgun and a latex mask on the passenger’s seat.

It’s uncertain if Buhrman stole the idea from Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible III, but prosecutors weren’t given the opportunity to ask about the mask because Buhrman failed to show up for court.

His absence was hardly unexpected though, as he hasn’t been seen since last September.  On the last day he was seen, authorities got a signal from Buhrman’s court ordered GPS anklet that someone was attempting to tamper with the device.  When authorities arrived on the scene, the only thing they found was a detached GPS bracelet.

Buhrman is being tried in absentia, meaning the court views his decision not to show up as an indication that he is waiving his right to appear.  The trial is expected to conclude within the week.

Attorney Brett Appelman comments

This sounds like something straight out of Law and Order.

When a defendant is initially being addressed by the judge, they are told “if you fail to appear we can go ahead and hold your trial without you.”  We hear this all the time, but what does it actually mean?

A criminal defendant who skips town and fails to appear at their trial can literally be tried, found guilty, and sentenced without even being in court.  It is called a “Trial in Absentia”, and they happen with some regularity.  If you fail to show up for your trial, you are assumed to have waived your right to appear, meaning that the judge will believe that you willingly decided to not show up and defend yourself.  The trial will commence without you.

In this case, the alleged car-jacker has fled and has not appeared for his trial.  His lawyers will put on his defense and try to win the trial, but having an absent defendant makes their job much harder.  A jury is not likely to look favorably upon a defendant that has run away from his own trial.

If he is found guilty, the judge will hand down a sentence, and if this defendant is ever caught he will serve that sentence, be it probation, fines, or more likely in this case, prison time.

Related source:  Chicago Tribune

Naperville Babysitter Pleads Not Guilty in Televised Arraignment

When Naperville babysitter Elzbieta Plackowska pled not guilty to the murder of two young children, she did so in front of cameras, which were allowed in a DuPage County courtroom for the first time in the county’s history.

The arraignment, which lasted less than five minutes, was the first televised criminal proceeding of a Chicago metro area court case.

“Everything went smoothly,” DuPage County Chief Judge John Elsner said after the hearing.

Plackowska did not speak during the arriagnment, and Assistant Public Defender Michael Mara entered the plea on her behalf.

Plackowska faces 10 counts of murder after she allegedly fatally stabbed her 7-year-old son and a 5-year-old girl whom she was babysitting on October 30.

Cameras were allowed in court as part of a new Illinois Supreme Court policy that seeks to make court proceedings more widely accessible.  One television camera and one still camera were allowed to document the arraignment by Judge Robert Kleeman, who presided over the hearing.  Judge Kleeman rejected two additional media requests for a greater camera presence.

DuPage County is the 23^rd Illinois county to allow camera documentation in court, but it became the first county in the Chicago metro area to allow such media coverage.

Plackowska and State’s Attorney Robert Berlin did not object to the camera presence, and Berlin said they didn’t affect the proceeding.

“The arraignment was like any other arraignment we do in this building,” Berlin said.  “Honestly, I didn’t even notice the cameras.”

Although Illinois is trying to make it easier for the public to have access to court proceedings, Berlin said people need to be aware that what happens in a courtroom is serious business, not entertainment.

The integration of cameras into the courtroom has been successful in other Illinois counties, and their presence in DuPage County could open the door for expanded media coverage in more Chicago-area court cases, said Supreme Court spokesman Joseph Tybor.

“DuPage is a stepping stone to Chicago,” Tybor said.

Illinois Attorney Brett Appelman Comments

In America we value our court system as one of best and fairest in the world.  Part of that commitment to fairness is that our courts are open; everything is done in public, and anyone who wants to can go to the courthouse and see all of the proceedings for themselves.

As an expansion of that desire for openness, many courts have begun to allow cameras and reporters inside the courtroom.  Chicago and the Chicago area have never before allowed cameras into the courtroom to tape the proceedings, but today’s recording is a big step in expanding that openness to television audiences.  Even if you can’t make it to the court, you will still be able to view exactly what goes on in the courtroom through your television.”