Meet the characters

With Elijah Reid’s trial about to begin, I figured the time was right to introduce you to the major characters. I’ll be talking about them a lot both here and in my daily coverage of the trial, which can be found at www.qconline.com. Anyway, without further ado, I present the cast of principal characters.

Elijah Reid: Mr. Reid   was arrested April 16, 2008 outside his home in the Century Woods apartments at 1351 3rd St., Rock Island. He is accused of killing Jermaine O. Robinson, 30, and Ryan J. Ferry, 22, who were both found shot to death in a car in Rock Island on April 11, 2008. Police said he may have known Mr. Robinson and Mr. Ferry, but did not say how.

During the course of his trial, mental health professionals have determined Mr. Reid’s IQ to be 65, which means he may, by law, be considered mentally retarded and declared ineligible for the death penalty. The law, however, states that a judge may consider other factors in making that determination. During hearings in December, Judge Walter Braud ruled that he is not retarded, stating that many of his academic problems can be traced back to very bad eyesight.

Jermaine O. Robinson: Described by former girlfriend Brooke Hawkins as very generous, Mr. Robinson attended Rock Island High School for three years before moving to Louisiana and finishing high school there. His grandmother, Lucy Pierson, said he took good care of her and would not hesitate to drop whatever he was doing to help her out. Ms. Hawkins said he was also a trained barber and owned a shop in Louisiana, but did not cut hair regularly.

Ryan J. Ferry: A memorial Web page on Myspace.com said Mr. Ferry was a Moline High School graduate with two children. The page also said he likes to hunt and fish.

Judge Walter D. Braud: Since becoming a circuit judge in 2001, Judge Braud has overseen several of the Quad-Cities’ biggest criminal trials, including that of Cory Gregory, who pleaded guilty in 2006 for his role in the murder of Adrienne Reynolds. More recently, the soft-spoken Judge Braud presided over the trial of Henry Sims, who was convicted of involuntary manslaughter in June, 2009, after pushing his girlfriend, Erin Waeyaert, off the running board of a van, killing her. Judge Braud sentenced Mr. Sims to 16 years.

Soft-spoken but tough, Judge Braud is very meticulous in everything he does. He won’t hesitate to send a jury out of a courtroom if he feels something is about to be said that they should not hear. When he’s handing down a sentence, he will explain exactly why he chose that particular sentence, often using very blunt language. When sentencing Henry Sims, for example, he said, “You have not lived a good life. You are not the worst person in the world, but you are close.”

Rock Island County State’s Attorney Jeff Terronez: Mr. Terronez was elected the State’s Attorney in 2004. Less than two years after being elected, he prosecuted the case of Sarah Kolb, one of the people accused in the 2005 murder of Adrienne Reynolds.

Though his perfectly coordinated shirt-and-tie combinations may imply otherwise, Mr. Terronez is always relaxed in court. He’s often found seated with his chair tilted back and his legs crossed. And he tries to make sure others are as relaxed as he is. During individual questioning of potential jurors in Elijah Reid’s trial, he would start off each bout of questions with a joke – often about the potential juror being “in the hot seat” or expecting spotlights to start shining as in the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Though the reference may be a tad dated, it seemed to make the potential jurors laugh.

According to his Web site, as State’s Attorney, Mr. Terronez is the “chief legal advisor” for the county government.

Assistant Rock Island County State’s Attorney Mark Senko: Mr. Senko is the newest addition to this trial’s cast. He replaced Assistant State’s Attorney Heidi Weller in December after she withdrew for personal reasons.

Mr. Senko is a big man, both in size and personality. Mr. Senko is often smiling and cracking jokes with whoever will listen. But during trial, he’s all business, firing off questions very quickly. During the June, 2009 trial of Henry Sims, on which he was one of the co-prosecutors, a courtroom demonstration nearly earned a mistrial. Mr. Senko, during his cross-examination of Mr. Sims, threw a set of keys in Mr. Sims’ direction. Judge Braud quickly told Mr. Senko not to do it again and Mr. Senko later apologized to Mr. Sims and the jury.

Defense attorney William G. Schick: Mr. Schick is perhaps the polar opposite of Mr. Senko and Mr. Terronez. One of two lawyers on Mr. Reid’s legal team, Mr. Schick is as laid-back and soft-spoken as Mr. Terronez and Mr. Senko are boisterous. Most recently, Mr. Schick defended Mitchell Laabs against a murder charge in July, 2009. Mr. Laabs, of East Moline, was accused of shooting a man named Darrell Little on May 31, 2007 and was found guilty in July, 2009.

Defense attorney Stephen Richards: Mr. Richards would not be among this cast of characters if the death penalty was not on the table. The Chicago-based attorney, according to his Web site, was certified as a capital case counsel by the Illinois Supreme Court in 2001. His presence, or the presence of another certified capital case counsel, is required by state law.

His Web site says he has been involved in “hundreds” of death penalty cases, including the case of one of the defendants in the 1993 Palatine (Illinois) Brown’s Chicken shooting. The defendant, the site says, was sentenced by a jury to life in prison rather than death.

There you have it, folks. That’s a basic rundown of the major players in this trial. Remember: Make sure to keep your eyes on this blog and at www.qconline.com for all the latest coverage of the trial.