A Kankakee County judge plans a hearing in April on whether to dismiss charges against an Iowa man in a five-year old involuntary manslaughter case. Mason Shannon’s lawyers have raised several issues about how the case was handled and say he can’t get a fair trial under any circumstances.
Prosecutors say Shannon went too far to claim self-defense when he choked an Ottawa man to death at a business northeast of the city in 2017. Shannon’s defense says the prosecutors mishandled the investigation of 32-year old Michael Castelli’s death. They also questioned the motive of the case’s original judge whose guilty verdict was thrown out by a different judge.
Scheduling the hearing for April 11th gives each side time to research more court cases and file more arguments. Judge William Dickenson held a hearing via Zoom today.