Medill Reports Roundup: E2 Nightclub Stampede Trial Coverage

To support the launch of the Medill News Service's new web site from time to time on the Methods Reporter we'll publish roundups of recent stories filed from the downtown Chicago news room.

For those not in the know, the Medill School of Journalism runs a wire service called the Medill News Service out of the second floor of the Clark-Adams building in the loop. Around 50-60 graduate journalism students cover city issues, the courts, science, business and arts and culture. Stories are printed in several suburban dailies as well as on Medill's new site. We've also got students covering Washington DC too.
These roundups will have a bit of a theme, so as not to be too scatter-brained. For this first one, let's take a look at our coverage of the E2 Nightclub Stampede Trial:

21 people were crushed in their rush to leave the E2 nightclub on the night of Feb. 16, 2003, after a security guard inside allegedly sprayed mace to break up a fight. Three of the club's operators were charged with 65 manslaughter charges in total. The trial got underway just last month with jury selection.

Leah Fabel wrote a warm-up story on it that also provides background information on the E2 stampede and gives some insight into a few pre-trial motions.

"Nearly four years after a panicked stampede at the E2 nightclub left 21 people dead, jury selection began Wednesday afternoon for the manslaughter trial of four operators of the now-closed club."

Once you've plowed your way through that, take a look at her story on the opening days of the trial:

"He first described the tragic scene in which 21 people, ages 19 to 43, were crushed to death in their rush to leave the club after a security guard allegedly sprayed mace to break up a fight. Egan will try to show that exit doors were not visible and the club had no emergency procedure. He went on blame the defendants in question: club manager Calvin Hollins Jr., floor manager Calvin "Nicky" Hollins III and promoter Marco Flores."

Jonathan Weinstein stepped in on the first day of the trial, when dramatic video footage from the club was shown.

"All the people that were on the first landing that we were able to get to, we were pulling them out," Hughes said. "And we got to certain people and we just couldn't move them anymore."

The video being showed by the prosecutors only accentuated the dramatic and heartbreaking scene that night at the club. Some of the victims" relatives in the courtroom audibly gasped at times.

Another E2 trial piece from Miss Fabel details the testimony of an off-duty security guard who found himself "at the bottom of a human pile in a packed stairwell" during the rush to escape the nightclub:

""I tried to move into a fetal position to save myself," Rafael Pellot Jr. told a rapt courtroom. "[A young woman] was grabbing my hand. I told her to pray, not to talk anymore, to breathe through her nose."

He vividly described how she panicked, moaned, gripped his chin, and died."

A few days later, Miss Fabel covered wince-inducing testimony from a Cook County Fire Protection Engineer:

"The exits were totally inadequate for the proposed occupancy," Robert Prendergast said, under questioning by Assistant Cook County State's Attorney Robert Egan. "In this case you had a ship that attempted to sail with a quarter of the lifeboats it should've had."

Followed by a piece on testimony from a mechanical engineer who said exits at the E2 nigtclub were poorly marked and at the end of unacceptably narrow hallways.

The stairwell to one of the rear exits, Carlson said, was cluttered with debris and another was made very narrow by 4x4 wood parts used for stacking unused tables and chairs. The door to the restaurant's kitchen, according to Carlson, swung inward into one of the exit pathways and was not marked with any sign letting people know it was not an exit.

The service's most recent piece on the E2 tragedy covers the possible ramifications of a verdict in the case, whether for or against the nightclub operators:

"It was obviously a terrible tragedy, and there may well be criminal culpability," said Robert Loeb, defense attorney and law professor at DePaul University. "But my impression is that the lines are blurred as to what individual bears responsibility, and ultimately that's where the prosecution has an uphill battle."

As of today, the E2 case is on hold waiting for the court to rule on a motion for directed verdict, essentially asking the court to rule before the defense puts on their case, according to Leah. Stay tuned to your local papers and news sites for the latest developments... Medill students will be there...