Judge sets date for Hudson family murder trial
CHICAGO: A judge has ordered a man charged in the 2008 Chicago slayings of Jennifer Hudson’s mother and two other family members to stand trial in April, despite the objections of his attorney, who said she was not ready.
At yesterday’s hearing, after listening to William Balfour’s attorney say she was still building her case, a clearly exasperated Judge William Charles Burns said it didn’t appear she was making any progress and set a date.
The judge, who suggested he wanted to start the trial next month, instead ordered jury selection to start on April 9 and testimony to begin on April 23. He said he expected the trial to last three or four weeks.
Balfour’s attorney, Amy Thompson, who is a deputy public defender, said despite working 12 to 14 hours a day on the case she could not say that she was ready for trial, as prosecutors had done.
“We’re not prepared for trial at this time,” she said.
Balfour, 30, is the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson. He is charged with murder in the October 2008 slayings of the Hudson sisters’ mother, Darnell Donerson, their brother, Jason Hudson, and Julia Hudson’s seven-year-old son, Julian King.
Prosecutors allege that Balfour, using a gun he stole from Jason Hudson, shot the three in a jealous rage because he was angry that Julia Hudson had been dating another man.
He is accused of shooting Donerson and Jason Hudson in their home in Chicago’s South Side, and then grabbing the boy and shooting him inside Jason Hudson’s SUV. The boy’s body was found three days later in the vehicle on the city’s West Side.
In 2008, Balfour’s attorney at the time said that there was no fingerprint, blood or other forensic evidence linking Balfour to the slayings.
But prosecutors have said there is evidence linking Balfour to the slayings of the Oscar winner’s family members, including gunpowder residue on the steering wheel of his car. They have also said detectives have disproved some statements Balfour made to them.
Thompson left quickly after yesterday’s hearing and did not return a phone call seeking comment.
At the hearing, assistant state’s attorney James Mckay objected to a defence motion to turn over Jennifer Hudson’s home address and telephone numbers to Balfour’s attorneys out of concern for her privacy. He did agree to make Hudson available to defence attorneys to be interviewed. – Sapa-ap