Attorneys Push to Have Charges Dismissed in Party Game Death

Updated to add attorney Ira Goldstein's comments at 3:45 p.m.

Lawyers are asking a Will County judge to dismiss criminal charges stemming from a party game gone wrong.

Attorneys for Tiffany Startz, 21, 2421 Satellite Drive in Joliet, asked Judge Edward Burmila on Wednesday to dismiss charges of battery and reckless conduct filed against her in the death of John Powell, 25, of Romeoville.

Another Romeoville man, 27-year-old Jimmy Mounts, 424 Garland Drive, was also charged with felony reckless conduct in connection with the death of Powell, who collapsed and died Sept. 25, 2010, after being punched in the face during a party at a home in the 2000 block of Waterford in Crest Hill.

According to media accounts of the incident, Mounts was daring partygoers to let Startz hit them, betting guests $5 that they couldn’t take a punch in the face from the 5-foot-5-inch, 142-pound Startz. Powell, who was 5 foot 8 inches and 140 pounds, took the bet, according to reports, and initially seemed fine after being hit in the face.

Minutes later, however, he collapsed and was rushed to Provena St. Joseph Medical Center in Joliet, where he was pronounced dead.

In January, Will County coroner Pat O’Neil ruled Powell’s death a homicide, listing the cause of death as “the result of a party game.” Powell reportedly suffered a brain hemorrhage.

Attorney Ira Goldstein argued that the punch was consensual and that no battery occurred.

"The state never disputed the facts that were presented to the judge," Goldstein said, adding that Startz and Powell had never met before the Sept. 25 party.

"She didn't know Mr. Powell from the man in the moon that day," he said.

Goldstein said Powell accepted Mounts' bet and took the $5 before allowing Startz to hit him.

Goldstein contends that an unknown congenital defect was behind Powell's death, causing a vein in his neck to rupture after he was hit.

"Unbeknown to her, unbeknown to Powell, unbeknown to everyone, Powell had a congenital defect in his head with a vein," Goldstein said, adding that a cell phone video of the punch shows that the death was an accident. 

In the video, after striking Powell, "[Startz] approaches him, she extends her hand like a fist bump," Goldstein said. "There was no malice.

"Tiffany isn't a bodybuilder, she isn't a professional fighter ... No one expected this to happen at all."

Goldstein  called the death a tragedy for both Powell and for Startz.

Burmila is scheduled to make a ruling in the case on Tuesday.

Startz, a 2007  graduate, and Mounts are both free on bond. 

Powell was scheduled to perform with his rap group, Krazy Killaz, at the party, according to the Chicago Tribune. A MySpace page for the group lists Powell as a former Romeoville High School student.