A tentative jury trial date has been set for a Morgan County murder trial, even though potential evidence in the case remains in question.
39-year-old Joshua E. Wilson appeared in Morgan County Court in front of visiting Macoupin County Judge Kenneth Diehl Friday morning.
Wilson faces three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting death of 26-year-old Malcolm V. Fitts of Chicago and formerly of Jacksonville on February 28, 2021.
Fitts died of multiple gunshot wounds at Jacksonville Memorial Hospital after being transported from the parking lot of the Turner High Rise Apartment complex.
Wilson’s defense counsel Marcus Shantz filed a motion to suppress video evidence in the case. Morgan County State’s Attorney Gray Noll says the court took the matter under advisement and will be issuing a written opinion on a different date.
“The issues involving the motion seems to involve the fact that the video the state is attempting to introduce is a motion-activated video. That appeared to be the defense’s argument as to why it should be prohibited. The state will be presenting case law and a response to the court, and the court will issue a written ruling at some other time.”
Noll has 14 days to file and then the defense has 14 days to respond. Shanz’s motion calls for the suppression of video from the Turner Highrise the night of the shooting due to time lapses totaling approximately 34 minutes of film time that the motion says is missing.
The State’s Attorney’s Office has continued to argue that no recordings were made during those 34 minutes because nothing had set off the motion sensor during that time.
A status hearing has been set in Morgan County Court for Thursday, June 22nd at 2:00 pm. Judge Diehl also set the case for jury selection to begin on Monday, July 24th.