Judge won’t declare mistrial in Jeremy Boshears murder case

A judge decided not to declare a mistrial in a Joliet Outlaw’s murder case after jurors heard about the defendant’s uncle’s suicide against his attorney’s wishes.

Since April 14, Jeremy Boshears, 36, has been on trial for the fatal shooting of Katie Kearns, 24, and the coverup of her death at the Joliet Outlaws’ clubhouse.

Boshears’ attorney, Chuck Bretz, demanded a mistrial after a jury heard in a video of Boshears’ police interview that his uncle died by suicide. Bretz had previously moved to exclude any reference of the suicide during trial.

On Friday, Judge Dave Carlson denied Bretz’s motion for mistrial.

Carlson said he didn’t believe there was any malice on the part of the prosecution and that the “five-second statement” in the police video that contained the reference doesn’t meet the criteria necessary for a mistrial.

Will County Assistant State’s Attorney Steve Platek called the jury’s exposure to Boshears’ comment about his uncle’s suicide “unintentional.” However, Platek argued the reference was not prejudicial enough for a mistrial.

Platek again recommended that Carlson admonish the jury to disregard that reference or order prosecutors never to mention it again during trial.

“I’m hesitant to instruct them to disregard it because it calls attention to it,” Carlson said.

The trial was put on hold Friday and will resume Monday.

Both parties spent Friday morning continuing to dispute what evidence can be introduced during the trial.

The trial was supposed to begin April 11, but was delayed several days over issues concerning prosecutors’ evidence and its relevance to the case against Boshears.

Carlson on Friday said that prosecutors couldn’t present evidence regarding a swab taken from a gun barrel. Bretz said the evidence was tested without his expert present and that a court order required that expert’s presence for all testing.

“I’m not going to let that one in, it’s a direct violation of a court order,” Carlson told prosecutors.

This week, the jury heard testimony from former Outlaw prospect Colby O’Neal that implicated Boshears in the alleged cover-up of Kearns’ death but did not say he saw her body at the clubhouse.

A St. Anne couple testified that they helped Boshears store a Jeep in a barn on their property. Kearns’ body was later located in the Jeep after her disappearance.

Jurors spent all of Thursday inundated with testimony regarding phone calls, web searches and text messages attributed to a phone number tied to Boshears. The jury is expected to continue listening to more text messages Monday.