After Madison County saw its first felony jury trial in more than six months due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the State’s Attorney’s Office announced that its jury trial teams are back.
The second trial, which is a bench trial, began Monday in Madison County Circuit Judge Kyle Napp’s courtroom.
Defendant Donald Nelson of Alton is accused of shooting and killing Eldon Williams of Godfrey in October 2018.
Because Nelson’s trial is not a jury trial, a limited number of family members and close friends were allowed to sit in the public seating section of the courtroom.
“Our mission is to get justice for victims and our community, and we are happy to finally be able to get back to that critical work. It takes touch, experienced professionals in law enforcement to successfully take predators and violent criminals off the streets and put them behind bars,” stated First Assistant State’s Attorney Crystal Uhe.
Napp also presided over the first trial, which was a four-day jury trial held at the Criminal Justice Center.
Late in the evening on Sept. 24, jurors found Michael A Weis, 39, guilty of two counts of Aggravated Criminal Sexual Abuse (Class 2 felonies), three counts of Criminal Sexual Assault (Class 1 felonies), and three counts of Child Pornography (Class 1 felonies). Weis could face a sentence of more than 90 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections. His bond was revoked following the verdict.
“Catching and convicting predators is a top priority in our execution of Madison County justice,” State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons stated in a press release. “Working together with our partners in law enforcement, we will never rest in our fight to protect the children of our community from predators by finding them wherever they lurk and putting them behind bars.”
The prosecution was lead by Assistant State’s Attorney Kathleen Nolan and co-counsel Assitant State’s Attorney Emily Bell of the Children’s Justice Division.
Weis was represented at trial by Brian Polinske of Polinske & Associates PC in Edwardsville.
Fitz, the Madison County Courthouse dog, and his handler Tiffany Brooks sat with the minor victim and her friend throughout the entirety of the trial. Fitz provided emotional support “by being a comforting figure during the overwhelming experience,” the press release stated.
According to the press release, Weis was working as an auxiliary police officer in Granite City when he initiated a conversation on Facebook Messenger with the then 13-year-old female victim, K.S. An auxiliary police volunteer is not a member of the regular police department and are called to assist with traffic control, crowd control, and natural disasters.
Weis was a friend of the victim’s biological mother, who disclosed that her daughter wanted to become a police officer. Weis invited the victim to his auxiliary police meetings over social media. Weis did not have a prior criminal history at the time and passed the background check to serve as a mentor to K.S.
The press release states that the mentorship evolved into sexual communication via Snapchat, where Weis solicited nude images from the victim. Those images were saved in a secret photo app on Weis’ phone, which was used as evidence in the case.
Then Weis began taking the victim to his house and his newly developed gaming business when auxiliary police meetings were scheduled, where he committed acts of sexual penetration and rubbed the victim’s sex organs.
The victim disclosed the sexual assault to her foster mother on March 19, 2017.
The case revolved around the testimony of the now 16-year-old victim, who provided a recollection of the trauma she endured. The victim’s now 16-year-old friend was the first to learn of the sexual assault. Her testimony corroborated the victim’s recollection.
Expert therapist Patty Radcliffe of Alternative Counseling also testified on children’s response to sexual abuse.
The trial was the first in Madison County since the courthouses closed and court operations were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic more than six months ago. Jury trials had been continued since mid-March when health precautions took effect. Madison County Chief Judge William Mudge had previously said criminal trials will be the first to resume.
In order to comply with Center for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines, social distancing was enforced by having jurors spread out where the public typically sat.
The courtroom where witnesses testified was closed to the public. Instead, a web camera was set up to face the witness stand, and members of the audience watched testimonies on live video footage from the Madison County Courthouse. That courtroom also had limited capacity.
Precautionary measures were maintained during the trial, such as sanitizing the witness stand after each witness testimony.
Additionally, jurors used an empty courtroom to deliberate so they would have enough room to spread out, according to the circuit clerk’s office.
“This week’s trial proved we can continue to deliver justice for our victims while taking precautions to slow the spread of the virus,” Uhe stated. “This first trial back was a tremendous success for the victim and particularly our Children’s Justice Division. By continuing to move trials forward, our office can continue to provide a voice to the vulnerable victims of heinous and violent crime.”