Attorneys disagree in Mason Shannon retrial: Was Castelli alive after headlock?

Mason Shannon’s former boss testified Wednesday that it took three men to restrain Michael Castelli during a 2017 altercation at a rural Ottawa vegetable-growing facility.

Jim Clouse also gave a line of testimony that could be a problem for Shannon, an Iowa man charged with involuntary manslaughter. A judge is presiding over Shannon’s do-over trial in La Salle County Circuit Court and will decide whether Shannon acted in self-defense or acted recklessly when he placed Castelli into a headlock.

Castelli died soon after.

Clouse at that time was station manager at the Bonnie Plants facility and was lodging in an on-site trailer. One of his workers, Jordan Wilkinson, banged on his door to report a struggle involving two employees – Shannon and Joseph Brewer – and an unauthorized visitor, later identified as Castelli.

Clouse said he ran over and tried to restrain Castelli.

“We continued to struggle for what seemed like a long time,” Clouse testified, “asking [Castelli] to please calm down.”

Castelli calmed somewhat – “It was not as violent as it had been” – enabling Clouse to let go of Castelli, walk away and send for help.

“And were you comfortable leaving at the time?” prosecutor Michael Falagario said.

“Absolutely,” Clouse said.

“Is it fair to say [Castelli] had run out of steam?” Falagario said.

“Yes,” Clouse said.

Prosecutors said Shannon overdid it when he placed Castelli into what’s been variously described as a headlock, chokehold or carotid sleeper hold.

Clouse’s testimony could advance their proposition that Shannon maintained the hold (about 10 minutes, by Wilkinson’s estimate) past the point where Castelli ceased struggling.

But Clouse wasn’t as clear on a detail Shannon’s lawyers seized upon. Clouse testified that although he did see Castelli unresponsive, it was “not immediately after [Castelli] was handcuffed.”

That’s key for defense lawyers, who have raised the possibility that Castelli might still have been alive when Shannon released him from the headlock.

Earlier at trial, defense lawyers tried to undermine Brewer’s and Wilkinson’s accounts of how long Castelli was in a headlock and whether he was conscious when released. Defense lawyers noted that both men faced 2017 charges – Brewer for involuntary manslaughter, Wilkinson for an unrelated felony – and both cut deals in exchange for testifying against Shannon at his first trial.

Shannon was convicted in 2018 of involuntary manslaughter but successfully vacated his conviction before sentencing.

The sheriff’s deputy who arrived at the scene, William Norman, said he saw Shannon with Castelli in the hold and, after cuffing Castelli, ordered Shannon to release him.

Castelli then “slumped over,” Norman said, and Castelli did not move or speak.

Norman began administering CPR (assisted by Shannon) and sent for an ambulance.

Shannon’s lawyers challenged Norman’s timeline, however, citing some discrepancies between Norman’s reports and a deposition he gave later.

“Where does it say – anywhere in either of these two reports – that you immediately noticed [Castelli] was unconscious?” defense attorney Doug DeBoer said.

Shannon’s lawyers aren’t only banking on the question of whether Castelli was alive when released from Shannon’s hold. A medical expert for the state is expected to testify that Castelli died from asphyxia, while an expert for the defense will counter that Castelli died from a preexisting heart condition.

The trial resumes Thursday and could be concluded then, although visiting Judge William Dickenson previously said that he would be available Friday afternoon if needed for additional live testimony.

A verdict is not expect this week, however. Dickenson signaled he would take the case under advisement.

If convicted of involuntary manslaughter, Shannon could face two to five years in prison with the possibility of probation.