PHOTO BY 1221 PHOTOGRAPHY
A bunch of protestors collect outdoors the Sangamon County Courthouse Dec. 2 throughout a listening to for Sean Grayson to find out whether or not he needs to be granted pre-trial launch.
Until the Illinois Supreme Court docket steps in, Sean Grayson will probably be launched from custody on Dec. 6 whereas he awaits trial for the July 6 homicide of Sonya Massey.
Grayson, 30, had been ordered detained by Circuit Court docket Choose Ryan Cadagin for the reason that former Sangamon County sheriff’s deputy was arrested and indicted by a grand jury in mid-July within the nationally publicized case.
However a unanimous, three-judge panel from the Illinois Appellate Court docket’s 4th District on Nov. 27 mentioned Cadagin erred in denying pretrial launch for Grayson, a Riverton resident who was captured on police body-worn video capturing Massey, 36, a Black lady, within the head in her Woodside Township residence.
PHOTO BY 1221 PHOTOGRAPHY
Zacari Moore exhibits her help for the household of Sonya Massey throughout a Dec. 2 protest.
Massey, who was coping with psychological sickness, had referred to as police when she suspected a prowler within the neighborhood.
The panel’s ruling mentioned county prosecutors did not introduce “clear and convincing proof” that Grayson would pose a hazard to the group, even when he have been launched with sure situations.
The panel agreed with Grayson’s attorneys, Mark Wykoff and Daniel Fultz, who argued Cadagin made a mistake when he decided that “situations of launch, together with not working as a regulation enforcement officer, residence confinement, digital location monitoring and the removing of firearms from his residence could be insufficient to mitigate the menace posed to the protection of the group.”
Massey’s father, James Wilburn of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, referred to as the ruling “a critical miscarriage of justice,” and Ken Pacha, an outspoken supporter of the household and a critic of police, mentioned he fears there will probably be violent reactions in Springfield if Grayson is launched.
“This metropolis will burn,” Pacha mentioned after a courtroom listening to on the Grayson case Dec. 2.
State’s Legal professional John Milhiser mentioned he’ll ask the Supreme Court docket to agree to listen to an enchantment of the Appellate Court docket choice earlier than Grayson’s potential launch on Dec. 6. That’s when Cadagin is anticipated to adjust to the Appellate Court docket’s order to find out applicable situations of pretrial launch for Grayson.
Grayson is being held on the Macon County Jail.
Milhiser blamed the Pretrial Security Act, which abolished bail all through Illinois on Sept. 18, 2024, for making Grayson eligible for launch. The regulation was included within the SAFE-T Act, which stands for Security, Accountability, Equity and Fairness-At this time Act and was handed by the Democratic-controlled Basic Meeting and signed into regulation by Gov. JB Pritzker.
Milhiser has referred to as for adjustments within the regulation to provide native judges extra discretion in contemplating whether or not to launch or detain defendants whereas they await trial.
“The SAFE-T Act has made it much less secure in communities throughout Illinois,” Milhiser mentioned in a press release. “Underneath the brief timeframe required below the act, we filed a petition to detain Sean Grayson, together with related out there data, and made applicable arguments on the (July 18) listening to. We agree with the Circuit Court docket’s willpower that defendant Grayson poses a menace to the group that can’t be mitigated with situations, and he needs to be detained whereas his case progresses.”
