Morris Murder Defendant Justified To Kill Clayton's Tap Patron Tossed Out Of Bar: Defense Attorney

MORRIS, IL — A Cook County-based law firm hired to represent 22-year-old concrete laborer and former St. Lawrence High School football player Marshall Szpara argued that their client deserved to be released from the Grundy County Jail despite facing first-degree murder charges.

After spending the past two nights in the Grundy County Jail, Marshall Szpara of Seneca was escorted into the Grundy County Courthouse on Monday afternoon for his first court appearance in connection with last weekend's deadly shooting in downtown Morris outside the Clayton's Tap.

Channahon resident Julian Rosario, 35, was fatally shot in front of Clayton's Tap, 116 W. Washington St., and a second shooting victim, 21-year-old Paul Mitchell, an associate of Szpara, was taken to Morris Hospital, where he was initially listed in critical condition, authorities announced on Saturday.

The first bullet fired by Szpara's pistol struck both men at the same time — his own friend and then the man his friend was fighting. The second bullet struck the Channahon man in the back, ending his life in the street.

At Monday's hearing, the Grundy County State's Attorney Russell Baker and First Assistant State's Attorney Kyle Klukas told Grundy County Judge Scott Belt that Szpara is being charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder, as well as aggravated battery involving a firearm and aggravated discharge of a gun.

Szpara's lawyer argued his client acted in self-defense and was justified to kill the Channahon homicide victim. Szpara was being represented by attorney Paul Piro of the McDermott Law Group out of Homewood.

According to the prosecution's testimony, Morris police responded to Clayton's Tap around 12:45 a.m. Saturday and two people were wounded with gunshots in the street. The homicide victim, Rosario, was found slain in a pool of blood. The other shooting victim, Mitchell, suffered a gunshot to his upper left arm.

Prosecutors told Judge Belt that Szpara had been inside Clayton's Tap along with a number of others, including several women. Rosario was also at the bar, and he left for the final time around 12:40 a.m. He was then loitering out in front of the bar along with a woman, prosecutors said. Eventually, they said, Mitchell got into an argument with Rosario as a few of the women stood nearby. A fight broke out and even though Szpara was not directly involved in the fight, he reached for his holster and pulled out his Springfield 9 mm pistol, fired and his first gunshot struck both Mitchell and Rosario as "Paul and Julian" were fighting, prosecutors explained.

"The defendant made himself involved in the fight," Klukas declared. Szpara then fired his second gunshot, shooting Rosario in the back, fatally wounding him.

The second bullet exited through Rosario's upper jaw, the prosecutor said. The State's Attorney's Office revealed that Mitchell was subsequently interviewed after being shot and he relayed to Morris police that Szpara was not justified at the point of the deadly shooting.

"He brought a gun to a fist fight," the high-ranking prosecutor asserted. "And he shot somebody else."

Szpara's lawyer argued that his client should not be kept in the Grundy County Jail under the SAFE-T-Act.

Piro told the packed courtroom of about 40 family and friends of both the shooting victims and Szpara that his client has no criminal history.

Szpara graduated from St. Lawrence High School in Burbank where he was an honor roll student and played four different sports including football and lacrosse, according to his attorney.

Nowadays, Szpara is a third-year union apprentice with Local 502, a machinery union, his lawyer told Judge Belt. Szpara works for Triple D Construction in Coal City, and he has a valid Firearm Owner's Identification Card and a valid Concealed Carry License.

Piro argued his client was well within his legal right to produce his pistol and kill the Channahon man because Szpara was defending the life of his acquaintance, Mitchell, plus the other people gathered outside of Clayton's Bar where the fight was.

"This is a case we are asserting self-defense and the defense of others," Piro declared. "He believes he was doing the right thing."

Piro maintained the Grundy County State's Attorney's Office entire murder case centered around the actions of one Morris Police detective, Trevor Hodge, who ultimately reviewed various video surveillance footage from the downtown bar and surrounding businesses.

"The interpretation of one officer watching videos," the defense lawyer repeated.

Prior to the deadly shooting, Szpara's lawyer contended that the murder victim, Rosario, was actually kicked out of Clayton's Tap by one of the bartenders. Minutes later, outside of Clayton's Tap, Rosario tried to fight Mitchell and another man named Elijah. As the altercation remained outside, Szpara heard Rosario exclaim that Rosario "can make a phone call and have the three of you killed right now," his lawyer remarked.

"My client isn't the aggressor here," Piro argued. The defense attorney maintained his client was struck in the head during the fight by someone from behind, a blow so severe he later needed to obtain CT scans because of dizziness and that his nose was profusely bleeding.

Even though his first gunshot inadvertently struck Mitchell first, "My client did not want for him to get hurt. My client's intent was to save that individual," Piro asserted. "It's totally, legally justified. My client was not trying to kill him."

Szpara's lawyer asked Judge Belt to place his client under electronic monitoring. His own mother was willing to obtain him a residence in Grundy County, closer to Morris, if necessary.

"My client is innocent of the charges," Piro stressed. "My client was not the aggressor. He has no violent offenses. There is no reason he wouldn't comply with electronic home monitoring."

Grundy County First Assistant State's Attorney Kyle Klukas raised his voice during Monday's SAFE-T-Act detention rebuttal arguments, scoffing at the defense attorney's assertion that Szpara acted in self-defense.

"This is not a case of self-defense!" Klukas hollered.

After all, the evidence showed that Szpara did not just shoot his gun once, but he did so twice and his second shot, the deadly bullet, struck Rosario in the back.

Despite claims and suggestions by the defense that the homicide victim made references to having a gun or going to retrieve a gun from a vehicle, the Morris Police Department's extensive homicide investigation found no guns, knives or other weapons in the possession of the victim, prosecutor Klukas pointed out.

The downtown Morris homicide happened only because Szpara, as both a FOID card and CCL holder, exhibited horrible judgment, Klukas maintained. After all, FOID and CCL holders should not be bringing loaded guns into a bar or "shooting people" under the influence of alcohol, which is what Szpara was doing, according to the prosecutor.

The fact that Szpara fired his pistol two separate instances into a large crowd of people could have also put several more lives at risk in addition to the two people he shot, according to Klukas.

Judge Belt took a 10-minute break before returning to his courtroom at 4:40 p.m. to render his SAFE-T-Act ruling.

The judge pointed out that Morris Police Detective Hodge, the detective responsible for reviewing and obtaining the surveillance video footage that resulted in the first-degree murder charges, has proven in past court cases to be experienced, competent and professional; Judge Belt said he saw no reason to question Detective Hodge's ability to review a video.

Judge Belt also found it troubling that the homicide victim was fatally shot in the back, declaring, "a person's actions speak louder than words. We have a firearm brought to a bar fight. That type of conduct is worrisome to this court in releasing someone."

The Morris Police Department announced on Tuesday on Facebook that Mitchell initially suffered from life-threatening bleeding and that he was airlifted to an area trauma center and is now expected to recover from his injuries.

"Currently, there is no ongoing threat to the community. Based on the investigation, this appears to have been an isolated incident related to an argument between two parties," the Morris Police announced.