Subsidiarity/Tony Fazio

Tony Fazio is a Berklee College of Music Graduate and professional touring and recording musician with multiple songs and albums on current blues radio.

Tony has experience playing with Memphis Gold, Bobby Parker and Charlie Sayles, 3 of the big DC blues legends. Tony has toured all over the world. He has also played american blues guitar at many of the major blues festivals from United States to Europe.

Tony is currently performing with many different bands,  including Electrofied Blues Band and Charlie Sayles and the Blues Disciples. He is actively involved in the Fetal Records Subsidiarity projects.  CD projects anticipated for early 2015 include the long anticipated Charlie Sayles follow-up CD and solo albums with guest musicians.

Judge refuses to throw out confession by teen accused of stashing pistol

© Chicago Police Department/AP Photo 
This undated photo provided by the Chicago 
Police Department shows 25-year-old Donnell Flora.

CHICAGO — The teenager who allegedly stashed away the pistol used to kill 14-year-old Endia Martin is set to stand trial next month after a Cook County juvenile court judge on Tuesday refused to throw out his confession.

Attorneys for the teen, now 18, had argued the special-education student was unable to knowingly waive his Miranda rights when he confessed while handcuffed to a Stroger Hospital bed.

The teen alleges he was struck by a police squad car moments after the shooting. He suffered a fractured skull and traumatic brain injuries, according to testimony this week. Hospital records show he didn't know the date or what hospital he was in shortly before he spoke with three detectives who came to his room, a witness testified.

But one detective testified the teen was actually injured after he jumped onto the hood of a squad car and then fell off and struck his head. An assistant state's attorney testified that the teen clearly understood his rights before agreeing to make a statement.

Prosecutors have said a girl, then 14, opened fire last April on another group of girls in a dispute over a boy that had been fanned on social media, killing Endia. The girl - whom the Tribune is not naming because she is charged as a juvenile in the murder - and five others ended up charged. Her uncle, Donnell Flora, allegedly gave the girl a gun to use in the shooting. Prosecutors allege the teenage boy hid the .38 caliber pistol moments after the slaying.

The teen allegedly told police Flora had pulled the gun from his waistband and handed it to him, according to a portion of his five-page statement read in court.

He was ultimately charged with three counts of gun possession, according to prosecutors.

His attorney, Amber Miller argued Tuesday that detectives were looking for shortcuts after Flora hired a lawyer and stopped talking and were eager to extract a statement from her brain-injured client. But she said he was unable to knowingly waive his rights even if authorities explained them to him.

"To him, that may have been like hearing the teacher in the Peanuts cartoon," she said during her closing argument.

But Assistant State's Attorney Athena Farmakis said detectives and a prosecutor diligently followed the proper procedures to advise the teen of his rights.

"Is he an Albert Einstein?" she said of the teen. "No, but we don't need that to find someone knowingly and voluntarily waived his Miranda rights."

After a hearing that spanned two days, Judge Stuart Paul Katz sided with prosecutors, saying no medical evidence had been presented on the effects the teen's head injuries may have had on his ability to understand his rights.

He said that while the teen was in special-education classes, he was considered the smartest in his class and had an IQ of 76, just below normal. Katz also noted that the teen was four months shy of his 18th birthday when he gave his statement to police.

Katz also noted that when the teen was later examined by a court-appointed psychologist, Dr. Ascher Levy, he had memorized the Miranda warnings given by Chicago police.

"What really strikes the court is he was able to recite and explain his Miranda rights to Dr. Levy," the judge said.


sschmadeke@tribune.com

Shark Selfie

  Shark Selfie

Selfies are the new trend on social media that has taken the world by storm, with millions of people (regular and well-known) sharing their own every day, and even a song written about them. The picture below is undoubtedly the most courageous selfie I’ve ever seen. The guy was clearly desperate to capture the moment with his favorite actor, Jaws.