A Morris man gets a different judge, at least temporarily, in a LaSalle County court case. Twenty-nine year old Jacob Farmer is accused of interfering with security at the Etna Rd. courthouse in LaSalle County in March. He wants someone other than Judge H. Chris Ryan to handle his case.
Judge Ryan today scheduled an October 12th hearing for Judge Michael C. Jansz to decide whether Ryan should be off the case. Farmer, who has no lawyer, could have simply asked for a different judge and gotten one without a hearing. Ryan told Farmer of the option today. Having the hearing lets Farmer state his reasons at the risk of Jansz disagreeing and returning the case to Ryan.
During a previous hearing, Ryan found Farmer in contempt of court for an offensive gesture he made to someone else in the room. The judge said he would decide the appropriate punishment for the flip-off at the end of the obstruction case.
Farmer is also asking to move the case out of LaSalle County. That request will be handled after a decision on the change of judge.
Farmer was arrested with his sister, 30-year old Angel Farmer, at the courthouse’s front doors six months ago. Calling themselves Justice Jake and Accountability Angel, the two have recorded videos of themselves being told they can’t record videos inside certain areas in some courthouses. In the March incident, Angel Farmer is accused of being confrontational to the point that a security officer suffered an arm injury. Her case is on a separate track and is scheduled for a pre-trial hearing on November 17th.