Man accused in death of deputy to go on trial

The Sun interviewed Cedar County Prosecutor Ty Gaither about one upcoming murder trial and learned about that and two more.

Q. I heard last week on TV that Joshua J. Brown, El Dorado Springs, was going to go on trial in another county for the murder of Cedar County Deputy Matt Chism  and it would be over by Thursday. What happened?

I’m glad you called. Let me bring you up-to-date on that, alright? It gets complicated.

Q, He was first convicted of first degree murder in the death of Deputy Matt Chism because he was driving the car. Then a judge reduced that, right?

Yes, a judge reduced that and the Court of Appeals upheld the judge.

We charged possession of drugs. We charged possession of burglary tools.

The judge would not let me present felony possession of drugs and felony possession of firearms.

The judge would only let me present hindering prosecution by fleeing.

So what our office has done is charge him this time with the death of William Collins, his accomplice (who died in the shootout with Deputy Chism.) We will have a different judge in a different county.

The defense filed a motion to dismiss because of double jeopardy, which was overruled.  Additionally, he was set for a parole hearing, which was denied after we filed the new charge.

The trial is now set for Jan. 8, 9 and 10 in Barton County before Circuit Judge David Munton. There was a motion to dismiss because of lack of a speedy trial and that was dismissed.

Q. What’s he looking at for a sentence?

Life.

Another case is also coming up: Ramie Halbrook, an older defendant who allegedly shot his tenant as he was moving out. The trial is set for Dec. 4, 5, and 6.

The trial of Charles Shane Green who is charged with the shooting death of  Brandon Keith, 34, on Oct. 23, 2017, on a street in El Dorado Springs is set in February 2020.