A Lake County judge Monday denied Marni Yang’s bid for a new trial in the 2007 murder of the pregnant girlfriend of a former Chicago Bears player, saying he was not convinced of her innocence following a hearing earlier this year.
Judge Christopher Stride said in his ruling that Yang and her attorney had failed to overcome the weight of the evidence at Yang’s 2011 trial, where she was found guilty of the murder of Rhoni Reuter.
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“All in all, defendant asks this court to determine whether the evidence makes a persuasive showing that defendant did not commit the murder, and was therefore wrongfully convicted. It does not,” Stride said. “The wealth of evidence proving defendant’s guilt has not been undermined by this or any of the evidence introduced at this third-stage hearing.”
Yang’s attorney, Jed Stone, had been granted a new hearing on evidence, which took place in January. During that hearing, he presented bullet trajectory evidence that he said showed that Yang, who is 5 feet tall, was too short to have been the person who shot Reuter at her Deerfield condo.
Following the Monday hearing, Stone said Yang, 58, was “deeply disappointed” by the judge’s ruling, but “was not crushed.” She did not show any change of expression as the judge read part of his ruling.
“I told her … that these are 15-round heavyweight fights,” Stone said. “But we’re not knocked out yet. We’ve just been knocked, and we will continue to struggle until we find justice.”
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said, “We agree with the court’s decision. More importantly, we are relieved for the family that we are getting closer to finality in this case.
“Our experienced prosecutors, victim specialists, and support staff have done an excellent job on this case and working with the victim’s family,” he said. “We continue to keep Rhoni and her loved ones in our thoughts.”
In his ruling, the judge said that “echoes” of Yang’s trial continue to reverberate, and that a recording of Yang implicating herself in Reuter’s murder remained persuasive.
“In the end, none of defendant’s evidence overcomes defendant’s own recorded voice, talking to her friend at a local diner, describing how she murdered Rhoni Reuter and Reuter’s unborn child,” Stride said.
Yang has contended that she knew she was being recorded and made up the story because police were targeting her 16-year-old son in the murder, and she wanted the spotlight off him.
The 42-year-old Reuter was pregnant with the child of former Chicago Bears player Shaun Gayle when she was shot seven times on Oct. 4, 2007. Yang was arrested in 2009 and found guilty after a 2011 trial.
Prosecutors argued that Yang, who had been involved with Gayle, murdered Reuter out of jealousy. Yang was sentenced to life in prison.
Stone said Yang will appeal the ruling, and, if not successful, will continue to seek relief at the Illinois Supreme Court, and then at the federal level.