Hate crime suspects appear in county court

November 11, 2009
By Luke Runyon
Editor-in-Chief

A judge formally charged three UIS students with a felony hate crime, among other charges, last week after their arrests a month ago.
Jonathan Bishop, 27, Michial Filipiak, 22, and Charles Sales, 23, attended their first appearance in the Sangamon County Circuit Court last Wednesday, Nov. 4.

The three men are all charged with two felony counts: a hate crime against a person for perceived sexual orientation and criminal damage to property. The three men also have two misdemeanor counts of aggravated battery. Bishop faces an additional charge of resisting a peace officer.

Both Sales and Bishop had lawyers present at the first appearance. John “Mo” Madonia will represent Bishop throughout the court proceedings. James Elmore will represent Sales. Both lawyers forwent hearing the charges read by Associate Circuit Judge Robert Hall.

Hall read the charges to Filipiak, who did not have a lawyer present.  As read by Hall, a hate crime is a class four felony bringing with it a possible one to three year sentence in a state penitentiary and a $25,000 fine. The criminal damage to property charge has the same potential penalty. Each misdemeanor count of battery can bring up to one year in a state prison.  

The charges come from an Oct. 4 arrest in the Larkspur Court parking lot. Two victims, one a UIS student, told police officers that they were referred at as “faggots” at an off-campus party.  According to a police report of the incident, Sales admitted to officers that he called the victims derogatory names at the party and Bishop allegedly continued to use the language in the presence of UIS police.

Both parties found themselves back on campus, where the alleged incident occurred. According to a UIS Police report of the incident, the non-student victim had cuts on his face and a possible broken nose.

UIS police noted damage to the student victim’s vehicle, with its side mirrors and door handles ripped off. Officers arrested the three men and took them to Sangamon County Jail.

A first appearance in court requires accused persons to appear in front of judge where he or she reviews bail and advises the accused of their rights to a lawyer. Court clerks schedule following court dates at a first appearance.

All three men are scheduled to appear in Sangamon County Circuit Court on Dec. 17 at 9 a.m. for a preliminary hearing.  At a preliminary hearing a judge decides whether there is probable cause that a crime was committed. This often includes a presentation of evidence in a case.

At the first appearance, Madonia said that Bishop plans on submitting a not guilty plea to the charges.

Judge Hall reviewed each defendants bond and told the men the bond still remained in effect. As a part of their bond, UIS police said Bishop, Filipiak and Sales are not allowed to be in campus housing or parking lots designated for housing residents. Police confirmed that UIS administrators allowed all three men to return to class.