Marion County, Illinois- Former coroner Troy Cannon, facing seven aggravated felony criminal S/A charges, files three pretrial objections.
Troy Cannon has filed three separate responses and objections in advance of a Sept. 30 hearing on pretrial motions in his criminal case, including a motion dealing with Illinois’ r@pe-shield law, an objection to closed-circuit testimony, (including the very young survivors), and an objection to the admission of hearsay evidence.
The filings were entered yesterday, September 25th, in Marion County Circuit Court. A notice of hearing lists the motions for 2 p.m. September 30th in Courtroom 1.
One of the filings is titled “Motion to Introduce Evidence Pursuant to 725 ILCS 5/115-7.” That section of Illinois law is commonly known as the r@pe-shield law. Generally, it restricts the use of evidence concerning an individuals prior s*xual activity or s*xual reputation in s*x-crime cases, while providing limited circumstances in which such evidence can be considered. The purpose is to prevent a trial from turning into an examination of a person’s s*xual history when that history isn’t relevant to the charges.
Cannon’s filing indicates his defense is asking the court to consider evidence under that statute. The docket entry alone does not identify what specific evidence or witness is involved, so the exact nature of the evidence will have to be addressed in court.
Cannon also filed a response and objection to a motion for closed-circuit testimony. In chi/d-s*xual-@buse cases, prosecutors can ask a judge to allow a traumatized child to testify through closed-circuit television rather than from the witness stand in the courtroom.
One very young survivor was under the age of 8-years-old when she spoke up about the alleged @buse. The other survivor was under 11-years-old. This important procedure is intended to "allow the child to testify while reducing the potential trauma of appearing directly in front of the accused". The defense can challenge whether the legal requirements for using the procedure have been met.
If the use of closed circuit television is not utilized, the children would surely be the most affected.
It is rare for very young victims to be physically forced to testify in front of strangers, and the accused. It does happen occasionally and court advocates state it is almost always harmful to children. Regardless of where the survivors testify from, the young children will answer the same prosecutor and defense attorney's questions.
The third filing is Cannon’s response and objection to a motion to admit hearsay evidence. Hearsay generally means an out-of-court statement being offered to prove that what the person said was true. There are everyday exceptions to the normal hearsay rule, including specific provisions in Illinois law dealing with statements made by children in certain s*xual-@buse prosecutions. The defense can object and require the prosecution to establish that the statements meet the requirements for one of those exceptions.
Taken together, the three filings deal with a basic question that comes up before many criminal trials: what evidence the jury will actually be allowed to hear, and how certain witnesses will be permitted to testify.
Cannon faces seven serious felony counts of aggravated criminal s*xual @buse involving two young minors and has pleaded not guilty. Initially he was found by a judge to be too dangerous to women and children to be released from jail, with the court noting there would be no measurements that could be taken to ensure the safety of others. He was eventually allowed to be GPS monitored from his home with very strict pretrial conditions.
His jury trial is currently scheduled for October 13th, according to the court docket. The Sept. 30th hearing is expected to address the pending pretrial evidentiary issues.
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