(CelebrityAccess MediaWire) — Lawyers for the four men charged criminally in the E2 nightclub disaster challenged Cook County, Illinois, prosecutors in and out of court on Monday, alleging the state has stretched too far to blame someone for the deaths of 21 people in the 2003 stampede.
Lawyers attempted to persuade Judge Dennis Porter to force prosecutors to be more specific about the charges leveled against E2 owner Dwain Kyles, partner Calvin Hollins Jr., club manager Calvin Hollins III and party promoter Marco Flores, according to the Chicago Tribune.
Porter said the indictment charging the men with involuntary manslaughter, because they allegedly knew E2 was overcrowded, packing nearly 1,200 people into the 240 capacity club, is detailed enough to stand.
Following the hearing, defense lawyer R. Eugene Pincham, who represents Kyles, suggested racial and political influences could be behind the E2 prosecution. Those accusations were immediately denied by the state attorney’s office. –by CelebrityAccess Staff Writers