Robert Heitbrink and Robert Gill made appearances in Morgan County Court this morning.
After being convicted of murdering his ex-father-in-law in late 2015, Heitbrink was back in court after a motion was filed to reconsider his sentence.
Attorney James Elmore argued that Heitbrink should be given credit for the two-plus years he spent in home confinement, which was not factored into the sentence given by Circuit Judge Chris Reif.
After a back and forth debate between Elmore and Special Prosecutor Charles Colburn on the issue, Reif denied the request from the defense.
The state and defense agreed on a motion to return items from the Heibrink property and Ivywood residence, such as journals and cell phones, to the individuals to whom they belonged. Firearms from the scene will remain in the possession of the Jacksonville Police Department for the time being.
Gill, who is on trial for murdering his former son-in-law at the Jacksonville Police Department parking lot in September, was present for his first pre-trial hearing of 2016.
The hearing focused on a motion from Attorney Scott Hanken to quash a subpoena directed towards documents from Facebook, Jacksonville Savings Bank, Farmers State Bank and U.S. Bank.
Judge Amy Troemper notified Hanken that the court is yet to collect all the documents listed.
An additional motion was made to release all of Gill’s seized property to the person of his choosing. Troemper informed Hanken that the property must be submitted to the court for camera review before being released.
According to Hanken, there is still outstanding discovery regarding the autopsy and search warrants. Another pre-trial date was approved for March 2nd at 11 a.m.