Wednesday, November 28, 2012
A doctor will testify at a bond hearing next week that 18-year-old Mohammad Salahat is not dangerous or violent, says defense attorney Joel Brodsky. He'll then use this testimony to argue his client should get a 'reasonable' bond.
After sitting in jail for more than a year, one teen charged in the robbery and beating death of a Palos township couple could get the chance to go home. A bond hearing for Mohammad K. Salahat, 18, is set for 1 p.m. on Dec. 3 in Judge Neil J. Linehan's Bridgeview courtroom, defense attorney Joel Brodsky told Patch during a phone interview on Tuesday. Salahat is charged with murder in connection with stabbing and beating death of John and Maria Granat, along with three alleged accomplices: Christopher Wyma, 18; Ehab Qasem, 20; and the couple's son, John Granat, 18. The four men have been in custody without bond since the incident. Linehan could rescind a no-bond order for Salahat at the Dec. 3 hearing. Salahat has been described by …
Friday, November 9, 2012
Joel Brodsky, the defense attorney for one of four young men charged in the murder of a Palos Township couple says a psychological evaluation of Mohammed Salahat will prove he isn't violent.
Attorneys in the murder case against one of four men accused in the robbery and beating death of a Palos Township couple are still hashing out the details of allowing a doctor to testify about one of the defendant's mental state, the defense said Thursday. Mohammed Salahat, 18, is charged with murder in the stabbing and beating death of John and Maria Granat, along with three alleged accomplices: Christopher Wyma, 18; Ehab Qasem, 20; and the couple's son, John Granat, 18. Salahat has been described by prosecutors as the driver who remained in a car outside the home while the other three beat and stabbed the Granats to death in their bedroom on Sept. 11, 2011. His attorney, Joel Brodsky, has said previously that Salahat was "the fall guy" …
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
The public defender for John Granat, one of four teens accused in the armed robbery, home invasion and murder of his parents, appeared in court with his client for the first time Tuesday.
A public defender left a hearing in a Cook County courtroom Tuesday bogged down with an overstuffed accordion file folder and stacks of papers. It was LaFonzo Palmer's first day representing John Granat, 18, in the case against him and three other teens for the armed robbery and beating death of a Granat's parents, a Palos Township couple. Palmer didn't comment on the ongoing case and now joins the attorneys of the other three suspects, Mohammad Salahat, 18, Christopher Wyma, 18, and Ehab Qasem, 20. The four accused appeared in bright yellow Department of Corrections garb in Judge Neil Linehan's Bridgeview courtroom on Tuesday. Join the conversation. Like Palos Patch on Facebook and sign up for the breaking news alerts! Wyma and Granat …
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
All four defendants are due back in court on Sept. 18.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
Arguing that the accusations are unconstitutional, attorney Joel Brodsky filed a motion Thursday to dismiss murder charges against his client—one of four defendants whom police say were part of a plan to murder a Palos Township couple.
The attorney for one of four teens accused of beating a Palos Township couple to death says it's unconstitutional to charge his client with a crime that comes with a mandatory life in prison sentence. Joel Brodsky filed a motion on Thursday to dismiss the murder charges against 17-year-old Mohammad Salahat. Salahat has been described by prosecutors as the driver who remained in a car Sept. 11, 2011, outside the home of John and Maria Granat while Christopher Wyma, 17; Ehab Qasem, 19; and their son John Granat, 18; beat and stabbed the two to death in their bedroom. Brodsky has said previously that Salahat was "the fall guy" in the murders. However, prosecutors argue that Salahat was fully aware of what was happening inside the home. All …
Friday, December 30, 2011
Prosecutors turned over documents, photographs, video and Facebook records to the lawyers defending the teens accused of killing John and Maria Granat in September.
Prosecutors trying four men indicted in the killing of a Palos Township couple handed defense attorneys some 200 additional pages of documents and a disc containing 1,100 photographs. John Granat, 17, is accused of enlisting Christopher Wyma, 17, Mohammad Salahat, 17, and Ehab Qasem, 19, to beat, stab and rob his parents in September. All four have been indicted on 75 counts related to first-degree murder, home invasion and armed robbery in the deaths of Granat's parents, John, 44, and Maria Granat, 42. This latest exchange of evidence included lab and inventory reports, search warrants, and cell phone and Facebook records, said assistant state's attorney Donna Norton. Files from Granat’s personal school computer, as well as copies of …
Thursday, November 17, 2011
The four teen boys accused of killing a Palos Township couple on Sept. 11 have pled not guilty to the charges.
It was the first time that all four teen boys accused of killing a Palos Township couple appeared in court at the same time. Their attorneys all had the same thing to say, "not guilty." John Granat, 17, Christopher Wyma, 17, Ehab Qasem,19, and Mohammad Salahat, 17, appeared at the Bridgeview Courthouse for arraignment Thursday morning. Standing side by side all four pled not guilty to the murders of John and Maria Granat to Judge John Hynes. Read: Prosecutors: Son and Three Friends Plotted to Murder Palos Township Couple For Money, Bail Denied Although the four accused appeared together, they are likely to have differing defenses. Rick Beuke, the attorney for Granat, has said in the past that he believes the other three teens plotted to …
Monday, October 31, 2011
Mohammad Salahat's lawyer says his client was recruited as the "fall guy" in the Granat murders.
The lawyer for the youngest of the four teens accused of killing a Palos Township couple says his client was almost the third victim that night. The four teens charged in the Sept. 11 beating deaths of Palos Township couple John and Maria Granat appeared in court Monday. All four are set to reappear for arraignment on Nov. 17. After the hearing, Joel Brodsky, the attorney for Mohammad Salahat, 17, raised his own questions about his client's role in the killings. "Not only is he innocent, but if John Granat hadn't been stopped by police the night of the killings, Mohammd Salahat would have been the third victim of the other three young men," Brodsky said. Read: Four Teens Charged in Palos Township Beating Deaths Appear in Court Granat was…
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Four friends charged with the brutal murder of a Palos Township couple were denied bail.
One month ago two friends were beginning their senior year at Stagg High School. Another had just graduated and was taking community college classes. The fourth was going to Oak Lawn Community High School. Now, all four are being held in the psychiatric wing of Cermak Hospital at the Cook County Jail accused by prosecutors of carrying out the brutal murder of a Palos Township couple. Christopher Wyma, 17, of Bridgeview, Mohammad Salahat, 17, of Chicago Ridge, and Ehab Qasem, 19, of Hickory Hills are each charged with two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say they joined John Granat, 17, in carrying out the murders of his parents in their Palos Township home. Granat was charged with the murders on Sept. 13 and was denied bail at …
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
The murders of John and Maria Granat were planned via Skype, prosecutors said. The Granats' son, John Granat, 17, was charged with their murders last month.
Over Skype, four teens conspired to beat a Palos Township couple to death and steal money, prosecutors alleged today. John, 44, and Maria Granat, 42, were found beaten to death in their bedroom on Sept. 11 and prosecutors say their teen son and three of his friends killed the couple. Christopher Wyma, 17, of Bridgeview, Mohammad Salahat, 17, of Chicago Ridge, and Ehab Qasem, 19, of Hickory Hills were all charged with two counts of first degree murder. On Sept. 11, the couple was found dead in the blood-spattered bedroom of their home on the 12700 block of 81st Court in an unincorporated area of Palos Township near Palos Park. Their son John Granat, 17, was charged with their murders on Sept. 13. At the time, prosecutors said the younger …
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Joyce Wright
7:48 am on Friday, February 15, 2013
To me, this screams once again, if you have MONEY, you will be treated and tried differently (either by being able to afford a suave attorney or you have enough money in the community to influence stuff and people.) Sad for the Granats, and also sad for this teen, who will not learn the proper lesson or pay proper justice if his case is "bought." more ›