Cameras OK'd for Ill. child-killing case

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WHEATON, Ill., Nov. 19 (UPI) -- DuPage County, Ill., officials said they will allow TV cameras into a courtroom for the first time in the case of a woman charged with killing two children.

The Illinois Supreme Court in January announced a program to allow electronic recording at court proceedings, a practice that was adopted by DuPage County in September, the Chicago Tribune reported Monday.

"When we were adopting the rules, we didn't expect the first request to come so quickly," said John Lipinski, the DuPage courts administrator.

The first TV camera request came for the arraignment of Elzbieta Plackowska, scheduled for Wednesday.

The woman is charged with killing her 7-year-old son, Justin, and Olivia Dworakowski, a 5-year-old girl she was babysitting, Oct. 30 in Naperville.

Prosecutors say she ordered the children to kneel and pray before killing them.

Public defender Kelli Childress said the image of Plackowska shackled and in a jail jumpsuit at her arraignment could have consequences.

"Those kinds of pretrial images can really prejudice the jury pool," she said. "Assuming DuPage doesn't dress her in plainclothes due to the media request, the Plackowska arraignment will be an interesting test for that, if she in fact goes to trial down the road."