Granat Murder: Alleged Driver Distances Himself from Other Accused

The defense attorney for Mohammed Salahat will argue motions in Judge Neil Linehan's Bridgeview courtroom seperate from three other men accused in the beating death of a Palos Township couple.

Salahat's attorney Joel Brodsky will proceed without appearances from Christopher Wyma, 17; Ehab Qasem, 19; and John Granat, 18, officials decided at hearing for the suspects Friday. Authorities allege that Salahat as the driver who remained in a car Sept. 11, 2011, outside the home of John and Maria Granat while the other three, including the Granats' son, John, beat and stabbed the two to death in their bedroom, according to records.

All four defendants are in custody and appeared in Linehan's courtroom Friday.

"With all due respect to Mr. Brodsky, I ask that we separate the cases, for now, so we don't have to keep coming back to listen to arguments that have nothing to do with our clients," said LaFonzo Palmer, the public defender representing Granat. He was the public defender who asked the judge to separate the cases.

Brodsky has at least three pre-trial motions pending with the court: he has filed a motion to dismiss the charges against Salahat, claiming that it is unconstitutional to charge his client with a crime that comes with a mandatory life in prison sentence; based on that motion, he has also filed a motion for a new bond hearing for Salahat; and the attorney is also arguing that a doctor who performed a psychiatric evaluation on Salahat is required to give documentation to a doctor for the state, but not prosecutors themselves.

Up until the request, all four men were appearing in court together.

The judge agreed to the requested separate trials and scheduled Wyma, Granat and Qasem to return to court on Nov. 27. Salahat is scheduled to be back on Oct. 12.

As Salahat was led out of the courtroom by deputies, he turned to his family sitting in the galley.

"I love you," he mouthed.