Man found guilty of aggravated battery in BlackFinn stabbing
BY BILL BIRD wbird@stmedianetwork.com October 12, 2012 6:28PM
Adam B. Hearn
Updated: November 15, 2012 6:38AM
DuPage County Circuit Court Judge George J. Bakalis on Friday found ex-convict Adam B. Hearn guilty of a felony charge of aggravated battery for a stabbing during a March 6, 2011 brawl at BlackFinn American Saloon, 16 W. Jefferson Ave.
Bakalis acquitted Hearn of attempted murder and armed violence, crimes that could have returned him to prison for life had he been convicted of either charge.
Defense attorney David R. Imielski argued Hearn defended himself with a pocketknife after BlackFinn security agent Sean Brutto put him in “a guillotine choke hold” that left him unable to breathe during a brawl inside the bar. Brutto was a football player and wrestler while attending school.
While Bakalis said it was clear to him Hearn was the aggressor in the confrontation, he declined to convict him of attempted murder or armed violence, saying prosecutors did not prove Hearn intended to kill Sean Brutto.
Hearn, 33, of Lombard, served time in prison for an attempted gang-related murder in 1995 in Glendale Heights. He now faces a potential penalty of 10 years in prison.
Sean Brutto asked Hearn and his girlfriend, Kelly L. Cihlar, to leave the bar after they were found smoking a cigarette in a restroom, Naperville police said last year. He asked the couple to smoke outside, at which point Hearn became verbally abusive to the security staff.
As Cihlar and Hearn were being escorted outdoors, a scuffle between Hearn and Sean Brutto erupted, resulting in Brutto being stabbed in the abdomen. He underwent surgery at Edward Hospital in Naperville for a non-life-threatening wound.
Hearn remains in DuPage County Jail on $250,000 bail. He is scheduled to return to court Nov. 9 for a presentencing hearing.
