The state has turned over 7,704 pages of documents to the legal team working to secure a new trial for Jamie Snow on murder charges, Snow’s legal team told a judge at a hearing on Wednesday.
Snow was convicted in 2001 of killing gas station attendant Bill Little a decade earlier during a robbery near downtown Bloomington. Snow, now 55, has maintained his innocence.
In August, attorneys with the Exoneration Project argued that more than 8,000 pages of State Police and Bloomington Police Department records had not been turned over to the defense. Some of the records were seen for the first time this year by the defense, defense lawyer Lauren Myerscough-Mueller said at that time.
Much of Wednesday’s hearing, conducted via a Zoom link, involved how Snow may be able to review the voluminous cache of records in his cell at Stateville Correctional Center. Normally, lawyers would share discovery documents during in-person visits, but the large number of records makes that option impractical.
Snow “is in the best position to know what’s new in these (records), since he’s been dealing with this case the longest,” Myerscough-Muller told Judge Ramon Escapa.
First Assistant State’s Attorney Brad Rigdon, noting that a current court order bars lawyers from sharing the records, asked that defense lawyers retrieve the documents after Snow has a chance to review them.
Discussion on the access issue will continue after the defense team has a chance to look into electronic options the Department of Corrections may have for Snow to examine the records. Many of the records are duplicate police reports and could be reviewed more easily after some organization by Snow’s lawyers, the judge noted.
The release of 7,700 pages is related to forensic testing sought by Snow for more than a decade. In 2007, a judge ordered the state to provide records; the state handed over about 900 pages to Snow’s lawyers. A subpoena issued later to the two police agencies netted more than 8,000 pages of documents.
The judge and lawyers will teleconference in January and, if an agreement is reached, Snow will have access to the materials. A Feb. 16 hearing is set to review the status of the case and the records review.
