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Attorney: New ruling has implications for incident By CHELSEA McDOUGALL cmcdougall@shawmedia.com WOODSTOCK – The defense attorney representing a Lake in the Hills man accused of threatening a police officer says a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision is a game-changer for his client’s case. Attorney George Kililis intends to ask a McHenry County judge to drop the felony charge against 24-year-old Gerard X. Golston. Golston is awaiting trial on a single count of threatening a public official. He has pleaded not guilty. Golston’s charges stem from a rap video he posted to Facebook, and mirror a case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court earlier this year. Gerard The high court Monday vacatX. Golston ed the conviction of Pennsylvania man Anthony Elonis, saying the negligence standard prosecutors applied to convict Elonis was not enough, although justices didn’t clarify what the standard of proof should have been. Elonis was charged under a federal law that makes it a crime to threaten another person after he posted Facebook rants in the form of rap lyrics about killing his estranged wife, harming law enforcement officials and shooting up a school. In the local case, Kililis said that before the video in which Golston says in the form of rap lyrics he is going to “get the nine” and “pop” Crystal Lake Officer Dimitri Boulhains, the description on the post also said he was “messing around” with a friend. “This [Supreme Court] decision makes it obvious that this prosecution is misplaced,” Kililis said. “In order to click on the video on Facebook, you first had to go through a post that says ‘me and my friends messing around.’ “The only statement we have about [Golston’s] intent clearly indicated he was just messing around.” The Elonis case was closely watched by free speech advocates who hoped the high court would make it tougher to convict people for comments made on social media that might be viewed as threatening. However, in the decision last week, the justices dodged the free speech issues. David Metnick, the lead prosecutor on Golston’s case, said the high court’s ruling was too narrow to have any real effect on the local case. “The U.S. Supreme Court did not make any ruling under the First Amendment, the U.S. Supreme Court case merely interpreted a federal statute and what the ... mental state was where no mental state was defined,” Metnick said. “Where in our case it’s a state statute where the mens rea is defined. We alleged in the bill of indictment that [Golston] knowingly conveyed a threat.” Mens rea is a legal term referring to a person’s state of mind as it relates to intent to commit a crime. Golston’s next court date is Wednesday.
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman hugs defenseman Jason Garrison (5) after Garrison scored to take the lead, 4-3, in the third period of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final against the Blackhawks on Saturday at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla. At left is the Hawks’ Andrew Desjardins. Tampa defeated the Hawks, 4-3. AP photo
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LIGHTNING TOP HAWKS Tampa uses 2 goalies in win against the Hawks, ties series at 1-1
n Morrissey: No doubt Hawks can keep up with Tampa’s speedy players n
Next: Lightning at Blackhawks, 7 p.m. Monday, NBCSN, AM-720 STANLEY CUP COVERAGE IN SPORTS
• The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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