Plainfield Hate Crime Slaying Defendant Gets New Judge (2024)

Will County public defenders George Lenard and Kylie Blatti entered not-guilty pleas for all eight felony charges against Joseph Czuba.

Posted Mon, Oct 30, 2023 at 11:50 am CT|Updated Tue, Nov 28, 2023 at 2:32 pm CT

On Monday morning, the 71-year-old appeared along with two public defenders, Kylie Blatti and longtime downtown Joliet criminal defense attorney George Lenard. The defense lawyers told Judge Dave Carlson that "the defendant enters a plea of not guilty as to all counts."

Assistant Will County State's Attorney Mike Fitzgerald read last week's grand jury indictment, reminding Czuba that he faces 20 years to life if convicted of first-degree murder, 6-30 years if convicted of attempted murder, 2-5 years if convicted of aggravated battery, and 1-3 years if convicted of the hate crimes.

Fitzgerald asked the judge to continue to keep Czuba, who turns 72 next week, in custody at the Will County jail. Fitzgerald told the courtroom that on the morning of Oct. 14, Shaheen called 911, telling dispatchers her landlord had attacked her child with a knife.

In court, Czuba listened, holding his uncuffed hands behind his back, eyes wide open, as Fitzgerald revealed that Wadee died as a result of multiple stab wounds.

On Oct. 7, when war broke out between Israel and Hamas, "This disturbed Mr. Czuba," Fitzgerald said. Four days later, "He asked Ms. Shaheen to move out of the house."

"According to Ms. Shaheen, Mr. Czuba indicated he was blaming her, not necessarily her personally, but her because she’s a Muslim for what was going on in the Middle East," Fitzgerald said.

Fitzgerald argued that Czuba needs to remain detained as he awaits his trial because "Mr. Czuba is a threat to Ms. Shaheen and a threat to the safety of the community."

In response, Lenard and Blatti reminded the judge of Czuba's lack of criminal history and involvement in the community, as he owns properties in Plainfield and Joliet.

The judge said despite Czuba being deemed a low security risk as a result of his pre-trial assessment, "I'm going to order the defendant be detained." Fitzgerald also asked the judge to enter a no-contact order, prohibiting Czuba from contacting Shaheen from the jail.

"Nothing else, judge," Fitzgerald said.

Czuba's next court hearing will take place Jan. 8 in Courtroom 502 in front of Judge Bertani-Tomczak.

After Monday's hearing, Lenard met with reporters in front of the courthouse.

"We entered a plea of not guilty on all the charges," Lenard said. "Also in court today, we're in the process of conducting our own investigation. As you know, our client is presumed not guilty of all charges. We are going to do the best we can to protect all his constitutional rights and make sure that he receives a fair trial by an impartial jury."

Later, relatives of Shaheen and Wadee exited the courthouse. The father declined to comment; however, Wadee's uncle, Mahmoud Yousef, made a brief statement to reporters condemning the perceived lack of freedom of speech.

"We are in a country that says we have all the freedom of speech and religion," Yousef proclaimed. "These days, there's no freedom of speech or even religion. That's what's going on. Yesterday, there was another woman killed because she was a Muslim in Houston. Now these days, if you speak your mind, you lose your job, you lose your money, you lose your life, you lose your family. ... That's a double standard in this country right now."

Before walking away, he said, "Hopefully someone is going to do something about it, especially our president."