Instead of asking a judge to reconsider his last rulings in an involuntary manslaughter case, an Iowa man’s lawyers are asking an appellate court to just toss out the case. Forty-six year old Mason Shannon faces the charges for allegedly choking 32-year old Michael Castelli of Ottawa to death in 2017.
His lawyers say State’s Attorney Karen Donnelly and others bungled the case so badly, it wouldn’t be possible to give Shannon a fair trial. His original conviction was thrown out after Shannon’s lawyers alleged a conflict of interest involving LaSalle County Judge H. Chris Ryan.
The out-of-county judges who reviewed the case found no reason to think Ryan convicted Shannon for wrong reasons, but Ryan stepped out of the case to eliminate any further questions.