The expletive outburst cut through the courtroom and Judge Dennis Porter was clearly not amused.
"This ain’t no [expletive] court, this is a circus," exclaimed L.B. Joseph loudly.
It was the first day of testimony in the trial in which he and his brother stand accused of a total of six sexual assaults.
Two years ago the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office charged the two brothers, L.B. and Leondo Joseph, in a series of rapes.
Last week the trial began in one of the six cases for which they were arrested: the sexual assault on a woman on Dec. 17, 2011.
"They are a team," said Assistant Cook County State’s Attorney Mary Jackovac. "They worked together. They raped her together.”
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Dennis Porter is presiding over the trial in which both brothers declined a lawyer and are representing themselves.
The alleged victim testified that both brothers repeatedly assaulted her after she was abducted at gunpoint and held captive in a car from midnight until 8:00 in the morning. The brothers, she said, took turns going from the front to the back seat in order to assault her.
The brothers have entered pleas of not guilty.
Leondo Joseph declined to give an opening statement but L.B. Joseph said he has a bachelor’s degree from DePaul, lives in Lincoln Park and is a licensed security guard.
In his opening statement to the jury, L.B. Joseph referenced Italian literature and quoted Gandhi, but outside the jury’s presence he loudly uttered his expletive quote.
Joseph called the state’s case “all lies” and the woman’s claims the “lies of a prostitute” and said the sex was consensual.
Sarah Layden of Rape Victim Advocates watched as he cross-examined the woman he allegedly raped.
“It was probably one of the most horrifying things to see, to watch,” she said. “My heart went out to the victim as she was testifying. I can’t imagine what that felt like for her.”
Also in court was Michelle Ford, whose daughter Nikki Saez in an interview two years ago spoke of what allegedly happened when she met L.B. Joseph.
“He would punch me or hit me or choke me,” she said and then sexually assault her.
In the Saez case, instead of rape, the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office charged L.B. Joseph with battery and he was found not guilty.
"My daughter didn't get justice. Hopefully these other females will get justice," Ford said as she arrived for court.
Also in court was the mother of the Joseph brothers who declined to be interviewed.
