'Scared' Killer Denied New Trial, Complains About His Attorney

BRIDGEVIEW, IL -- A Cook County judge denied a former Bridgeview man's motion for a new trial following his conviction last month of the brutal murders of his former best friend’s parents on the basis he received inadequate representation by his court-appointed attorneys.

Christopher Wyma, his public defenders and prosecutors met Wednesday in Judge Neil Linehan’s Bridgeview courtroom to review post-trial motions before the 22-year-old man is sentenced next month. He faces life in prison. Wyma is facing natural life in prison for the slayings of John and Maria Granat.

The Palos Park couple’s 22-year-old son, John, was also found guilty during the week-long double murder, double-jury trial in January. The young men along with two other teens were accused of participating in the murders of Granat’s parents on Sept. 11, 2011.

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Wyma arrived in the courtroom wearing a striped jail uniform.

Linehan took up Wyma’s motion for a retrial, based on a lawsuit he filed in August against the Cook County Public Defender’s office for “ineffective assistance of counsel” from his public defender, Daniel Nolan, and court-appointed attorneys Richard Labrador and Joseph Stachler.

Wyma described the lawsuit to the judge.

“Things I wanted done weren’t getting done,” he said. “For my trust, to be in this position facing natural life, it scared me.”

Wyma said he had researched a few cases where verdicts were overturned based on inadequate counsel.

“I only met the public defenders a month before the trial,” he said.

Co-defendant Granat filed a similar lawsuit over claims of "conflict of interest" against his own court-appointed attorney over the summer.

The judge told Wyma the next time he needed to file a motion that it had to go through him, not Presiding Judge Raymond Jagielski of the Fifth Municipal District.

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“I was in a different town,” said Wyma, who was incarcerated at Kendall County Jail. “I only had his name at the top of my head.”

Linehan commented on the five years it took to bring his case to trial and asked if Wyma wanted to hire an attorney.

“I have no money myself,” Wyma said.

The judge told Wyma it wasn’t unusual for conflicts to arise between clients and their attorneys.

“Any conflict you caused yourself,” Linehan said.

“Yes I did,” Wyma replied.

Linehan called Nolan and his colleagues “highly experienced trial attorneys,” each of whom “could have represented you on their own.”

Defense Lawyer Defends His Efforts

Nolan filed motions to quash and suppress Wyma’s arrest as well as statements he made to Cook County Sheriff’s Police in the days following John and Maria Granat’s murders. The assistant public defender maintained that Wyma had never been mirandized, nor did police have arrest warrants when they picked him up twice for questioning, thus violating his constitutional rights.

Court records also included a motion filed by Nolan claiming his client had been choked and verbally threatened by detectives Steve Moody and Sajid Haidari in the washroom at Cook County Sheriff’s police headquarters in Maywood.

The assistant public defender alleged Wyma’s confession had been coerced.

Linehan asked Nolan how many murder cases he had tried, to which Nolan responded “well over 100.” The attorney told the judge he is also death penalty certified by the Illinois Capital Litigation Bar. Nolan said he and Wyma “worked shoulder to shoulder” on the motions to quash and suppress his arrest and statements.

“Before I brought on the other two attorneys (Labrador and Stachler) we vigorously and assertively attacked every piece of evidence presented by the state,” Nolan said. “Our investigators were out on the streets talking to witnesses and potential witnesses.”

In addition to challenging state evidence, Nolan also said his team had interviewed its own expert witnesses in cellular tower and device analysis, litigation, DNA evidence and neuropsychology. The defense team decided not to put them on the stand because “their testimony did not further our goals.”

“Was your client disappointed,” the judge asked.

“I’d say belligerent,” Nolan said. “We had many disagreements over strategies based outcomes from my own experience. My client wanted to pursue his own path."

Judge Calls Evidence 'Overwhelming'

During Nolan’s answers, Wyma raised his hand.

“The motions he claims he worked on, if you look at Cook County Jail records of when he clocked in and out, we met five times over the past five years,” Wyma told the judge. “And each time he stayed under 30 minutes.”

Linehan said he understood that the results of the trial were “disappointing” to Wyma.

“You couldn’t have gotten a better team … they did a tremendous job with the limited defense they had for you,” the judge said. “The evidence was overwhelming.”

The judge denied the motion for a new trial, as well as Nolan’s motions to quash and suppress Wyma’s statements and arrest.

Linehan set Wyma’s sentencing for March 17. He told attorneys at both sides that he expected to start at “9 a.m. sharp.”

Granat is up for post-trial motions on Friday.