CHICAGO (AP) — The Illinois appellate court on
Wednesday threw out guilty verdicts and vacated jail sentences for the owners
of a Chicago nightclub where 21 people were crushed to death and dozens of
others were injured in a stairwell in 2003.
E2 nightclub owners Dwain Kyles and Calvin Hollins,
who have been free while their appeal was pending, were found guilty in 2009
and sentenced to two years in prison for violating a judge's order to close the
second floor of the club before the stampede. But the state appeals court on
Wednesday reversed a housing court's decision saying the order was not as clear
as city prosecutors claimed at trial.
"Simply, under the facts of this case, we
disagree that the formal order was as clear and unambiguous as the city
maintains the law requires," Justice Michael Murphy wrote in a majority
opinion. "This action is criminal in nature and the city faces the burden
of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that the underlying order was set
forth."
The court said the city also didn't explain how the
violation caused the deaths or injuries.
The city's law department was reviewing the case
before deciding to take action, said spokesman Roderick Drew.
"We are disappointed with the court's
decision," the department said in an emailed statement. "In our view,
respondents violated a clear and mandatory court order, and but for that
violation no one would have died or been injured at their club that
night."
Patrons were trapped and crushed in a stairwell
during the Feb. 17, 2003, stampede after someone used pepper spray to break up
a fight inside the club, authorities have said. The tragedy, along with fire in
a Rhode Island nightclub three days later that killed 100, helped lead to a
nationwide effort to step up nightclub safety measures.
Hollins was acquitted of involuntary manslaughter
charges in 2007 and the same charges were dropped against Kyles in 2008. Later,
the City of Chicago filed charges against the pair in housing court.
The two men had been ordered the year before the
stampede to close the second floor level of the now-closed club. They claim
they did close the structure's balcony level, which they say was what the order
actually intended to have them do.
Hollins said he knew several of the people who died
very well and has mourned their loss, but maintains he did nothing wrong.
"I feel a combination of spiritual, mental and
physical relief rolled up in one ball. It's been an almost 10-year
journey," he told the Chicago Sun-Times. "I knew in my heart of
hearts that I did nothing wrong but to have an upstanding establishment. We
were at that same location for 20 years without incident. So you can imagine,
this has to be the most devastating thing that's ever happened in my
life."
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.
(AP
Photo/Morry Gash, File)
