Nightclub aides tell of sisters' behavior
By Brendan McCarthy
Tribune staff reporter
Published June 9, 2005
Toward the end of a night of drinking in honor of her sister's 21st birthday, Elizabeth Hatch, daughter of Minnesota Atty. Gen. Mike Hatch, demanded another cosmopolitan drink, hostess Beth Kleeblatt testified Wednesday.
Elizabeth was denied. And after she slurred her words and swore at the hostess, security escorted Elizabeth out, but she didn't go willingly and she kept announcing her family ties, Kleeblatt said.
The early-morning incident set off a chain of events that resulted in a struggle with police and a window being kicked out of a squad car. Elizabeth, 23, and Anne Hatch, 22, were both charged with simple battery, resisting arrest and criminal damage to property.
Their bench trial continued Wednesday before Judge Colleen F. Sheehan in Misdemeanor Court with colorful testimony courtesy of Kleeblatt, a bouncer called Tattooed Tony and security specialists from the bar outside of which the women were arrested last year.
"It was as simple as `leave, go home'" Assistant State's Atty. Lindsay Malitzsaid during opening arguments. But they "made sure everyone knew who they were: the daughters of the attorney general of Minnesota."
The sisters were celebrating Anne's birthday in March 2004 in the VIP section of Crobar, a nightclub in the 1500 block of North Kingsbury Street, when Elizabeth was kicked out by security.
After being denied re-entry to the club, Malitz said, Elizabeth caused a scene--repeatedly announcing her father's political position--and causing bouncers to hail a passing police car.
When a police officer confronted her, Elizabeth swore at and slapped him, knocking his glasses off, Malitz said. Anne entered the fray by jumping on a police officer's back, she added, and later kicked a police car window out of its frame.
"Not exactly the behavior you would expect from two daughters of law enforcement," Malitz said. "They wanted special treatment that night. But they didn't get special treatment."
Each faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 if found guilty.
Two high-profile Chicago criminal defense lawyers, who regularly deal with prominent white-collar criminals or people facing Death Row sentences, represent the Hatch sisters.
Tom Breen, Elizabeth's attorney, argued in court Wednesday that the allegations leveled against the women are "after-the-fact allegations" that have been "concocted to cover the backside of certain people" who have a personal, professional or financial interest in the case.
"They literally threw her out on the street without her coat, without her purse, without her friends," Breen said. "She was yelling because she had been thrown out."
Cynthia Giacchetti, Anne's attorney, said : "Not everyone was on their best behavior that night, but no crimes were committed."
Breen played an audio recording purported to capture several seconds of the confrontation with police.
On the recording a woman can be heard saying, "I've got rights." A male voice--said by Breen to be a police officer--responds "you have none right now, bitch."
The woman continues, demanding the officer's badge number. It closes with the female voice yelling five times, "What are you arresting me for?"
Breen said a friend of the Hatch sisters, who was present for the confrontation, made the recording by using a cell phone's voice mail feature.
Breen also carried into the courtroom more than 30 placards depicting grainy security camera stills of the incident in question. A security video will be shown later in the trial, Breen said, and the case is likely to stretch through Friday.
The police officers involved in the scuffle are scheduled to testify Thursday, according to prosecutors.
During Wednesday's testimony, another Hatch sister sat alongside Anne's boyfriend and friends of the sisters.
Elizabeth was mostly straight-faced and offered little expression. She sat with her hands folded across her lap for most of the day. Anne occasionally winced and squinted at certain testimony.
Meanwhile, Mike Hatch, waited outside in the courthouse hallways for most of the day. He is excluded from the testimony of others because he is a potential witness and could be called to speak before the judge.
All the witnesses who took the stand Wednesday were nightclub employees.
Steve Torres, a security specialist at Crobar, said he retrieved the police officer's glasses about "5 feet" away after they were knocked off the officer's head by Elizabeth's slap. He said the scene became "just like a wrestling match."
Anthony Guinn, or Tattooed Tony, testified that Elizabeth had tried unsuccessfully to re-enter the club "at least four times" by running past bouncers or through exit doors.
Don Farrell, a retired police officer and Crobar security specialist, told the court he flagged down the Monroe District police officers and asked them to calm the unruly women. Farrell said he saw Elizabeth strike the officer with the force of a wife who found "her husband was cheating on her."
The women initially filed a complaint that the police officers used excessive force. Police officials began investigating the misconduct complaint, but the family later dropped it.
At the time of the incident, Anne was a junior at DePaul University in Chicago and Elizabeth was attending Gustavus Adolphus College in Minnesota. Breen has argued throughout the trial that the Hatch sisters had not announced their relationship to the attorney general that night.
The nightclub employees who testified Wednesday all said the sisters had mentioned their father's political position. The employees, however, said they did not mention it in the reports they filed to club management.
