For the Record

Christian County Court Cases 11/18/16

Theses are the results of the following court cases heard at the Christian County Courthouse on Friday, November 18th.

 

16CF222 - Bailey, George T - Prelim Hearing - Defense waives prelim hearing. Waive formal arraignment and enter plea of not guilty. Requests trial by jury. January 30th for Jury trial. January 19th for pretrial.

 

14CF154 - Boyle, Joshua Zachary - PreTrial - Continued until January 6th.

 

16CF227 - Cowell, Douglas W - Appearance with Counsel - Counsel doesn’t do criminal matters. Defendant requests public defender. Some debate on whether or not defense qualified for public defender, but court ultimately finds that he doesn’t qualify. Next court date set for Monday.

 

16CF213 - Lacy, Jessie - PreTrial - Plea deal not reached and defendant not able to post bond. State has agreed to a recognizance bond. State and defense working on a plea deal. State confident they can come to an agreement soon. Set for possible plea December 1st.

 

16CF180 - Lynch, Joshua L - Appearance with Counsel - Court date set for January 6th.

 

16CF128 - Newman, Devon J - PreTrial - Defence negotiating with state. Next court date set for January 6th.

 

16CF216 - Pitsch, Lance T - Prelim Hearing - State has filed additional counts with the matter. State calls Special Agent Eric Weston with the Illinois State Police to the stand. Testified that he was contacted to assist in the investigation of a wreck on Il Rt 48. His team observed a pickup rolled on it’s side in the north side ditch and a white honda facing the wrong way in the southbound lane. Testified that a witness vehicle said they viewed the pickup weaving across the road and witnessed the accident. Gave a positive identification of the defendant. Testified that the driver, Nester Lopez received several serious injuries, and Jessica Tyson-Ragan received fatal injuries. Testified that autopsy showed that Tyson-Ragan was pregnant at the time of the crash. Testified that an officer investigating a possible DUI charge went to the hospital where Pitsch was transported to, and was told that the defendant had underwent a medical blood draw for his injuries, which showed a blood alcohol content of .373. Defendant was offered a separate blood and urine test. Weston was called to interview defendant, where he asked Pitsch to go over his day of the crash. Said he woke up and traveled to Taylorville area to hunt. Said he was drinking vodka while hunting. Said he eventually left and gotten lost. Said Pitsch said he was putting in an address in his GPS when he looked up and realized he was heading off the road, and that he didn’t remember much after that. Said he kept his vodka in a water bottle that he drank throughout the day. Weston testified that while he was interviewing Pitsch, it was apparent Pitsch was still under the influence of alcohol. State argued for probable cause to be found on counts 1-5. Court finds probable cause on all counts for case to proceed to trial. Defense waives formal arraignment as to content of charges, but wanted to go over the charges and possible penalties. Defendant pleads not guilty to charges. Jury trial set for February 27th at 8:30. Further pretrial set for February 9th at 11am.

 

16CF219 - Purcell, Kevin M - Prelim Hearing - Defense waives prelim hearing. Defense waives formal arraignment and enters plea of not guilty. Requests trial by jury for late January. Set for Jury trial January 30th. Pretrail set for December 15th.

Townhall Top of the Hour News

Weather - Sponsored By:

TAYLORVILLE WEATHER

Local News

Facebook Feed - Sponsored By: