After listening to William Balfour’s attorney say she is still trying to build her case, an exasperated Judge William Charles Burns said it didn’t appear she was making any progress, and set a date for the trial to begin.
Burns ordered jury selection to start April 9 and testimony to begin April 23, saying he expects the trial will last three or four weeks.
Thompson said that despite working 12 to 14 hours a day on the case, “We’re not prepared for trial at this time.”
The defendant, William Balfour, 30, is the estranged husband of Hudson’s sister, Julia Hudson. Balfour is charged with first-degree murder in the October 2008 slayings of the Hudson sisters’ mother, Darnell Donerson, their brother, Jason Hudson, and Julia Hudson’s 7-year-old son, Julian King.
Prosecutors will argue that Balfour, using a gun he stole from Jason Hudson, shot Julia’s family members in a jealous rage because he was angry that she had begun dating another man. He is accused of shooting Donerson and Jason Hudson in their South Side Chicago home, then grabbing the boy and shooting him inside Jason Hudson’s SUV. Julian’s body was found three days later in the vehicle, which had been left parked on the city’s west side.
Assistant State’s Attorney James McKay objected to the defense’s request to receive Jennifer Hudson’s home address and telephone numbers out of concern for her privacy. He did agree to arrange for Hudson to be interviewed by Balfour’s defense attorneys.
Prosecutors intend to call Jennifer Hudson as a witness during the proceedings. –kathleen cross
