Mistrial declared due to evidentiary issue
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By Carmen Ensinger
Jury trials are few and far between in Greene County and that track record remains intact after a jury trial, convened Monday for a Sangamon County man, was dismissed after the judge declared a mistrial.
Michael J. Tolliver, 40, was arrested by Carrollton Police on May 30, 2022 after a traffic stop on Rt. 108. According to Carrollton Police Chief Jimmy Buchanan, Tolliver, who identifies himself as a “sovereign citizen” refused to exit his vehicle.
Sovereign citizens believe they are not under the jurisdiction of the federal, state or local government and consider themselves exempt from U.S. law.
Buchanan called for backup and another officer arrived. After the two officers got Tolliver out of the vehicle, Tolliver kicked the other officer in the chest with his foot.
Tolliver was taken to Greene County Jail and charged with Aggravated Battery, a Class 2 Felony; Resisting a Peace Officer, a Class A Misdemeanor and Driving While License Suspended.
Tolliver posted a $1,500 bond on June 8 and disappeared. Numerous certified letters were sent notifying him of court appearance, all of which remained unclaimed.
Finally, on March 20, a jury was impaneled and he was tried in absentia. It was during trial proceedings that an evidentiary issue was discovered by his appointed defense attorney, Craig Grummel.
“During the pre-trial proceedings there had been issues raised by myself regarding the exchange of discovery and the Court had previously ruled on a pre-trial motion for sanctions by imposing sanctions upon the prosecution regarding what evidence could be published to the jury,” Grummel said. “It was suspected that there were other items of evidence that had not been tendered to me and testimony by one of the State’s witnesses confirmed the same. I was able at that point to request a mistrial which the Court granted and dismissed the case with prejudice.”
The evidence in question was the statement made by the other officer which had not been given to the defense. States Attorney Caleb Briscoe had the following comment regarding why this information was not made available to the defense.
“There was a document that was created by one of the witnesses approximately six weeks or so after the alleged incident,” Briscoe said. “The document was never sent to the witness’s supervisor for approval, nor provided to me or my office. No one but the creator of the document knew the document existed until the day of the trial.”
All of the county’s police departments use the same report writing software and all departments are able to go in and access information and reports, unless they are flagged. Furthermore, any time that document is opened or accessed, it is time stamped as to when and who accesses the document. The State’s Attorney’s Office also has access to this report writing system, so, in theory, the report was right there all the time.
Even though his client wasn’t there to be thrilled with the outcome, Grummel was.
“It was a great outcome for the individual I was appointed to represent and I am happy with the Court’s ruling,” he said.
Greene County Circuit Court Judge Zachary Schmidt dismissed the case with prejudice, which means the state is prohibited from refiling the charges.
In retrospect, it is probably just as well that the case was dismissed. According to the UNC School of Government’s “A Quick Guide to Sovereign Citizens,” one of the things that sovereign citizens are known for is “severely burdening the courts and other government offices with the filing of hundreds and hundreds of pages of nonsensical documents.” Greene County might just have dodged a bullet after all. Perhaps the old saying is true – ignorance truly is bliss.
