Mt. Carmel resident, 30-year-old Jordan Evans is now a free man after a Wabash County jury found him not guilty on Wednesday of three felony charges related to an alleged altercation with an Illinois State Police trooper last year.
Evans was facing a Class 2 felony charge of aggravated intimidation, a Class 4 felony charge of aggravated assault, and a Class X charge of armed violence, which could have resulted in a prison sentence ranging from 6 to 30 years.
During the one-day trial, Trooper Adrian Meyer was the first witness for the prosecution, represented by state’s attorney Kelli Storckman. Meyer testified that on November 5th of last year, while at the Wash ‘n Go Car Wash on West 9th Street, Evans approached him, verbally threatening and intimidating him while brandishing a hatchet that he claimed was attached to Evans’ pants. Meyer noted that he and Evans both hailed from Lawrence County and had a casual acquaintance from their school days.
In his testimony, Evans stated that he was friends with Meyer’s wife and had merely intended to greet her at the car wash. He disputed Meyer’s account, claiming he did not have a hatchet attached to his pants; instead, it was in his car from a planned hiking trip. Evans asserted that he never threatened Meyer in any way.
Alongside Meyer and Evans, the only other witnesses who testified were former Mt. Carmel Police officer Daniel Hopper and 911 dispatcher Mary Sweppy.
The jury began deliberations just before 3:30 PM and reached their verdict in about 30 minutes.
Evans was represented by public defender Bill Easton. Following the not guilty verdicts, Judge Denton Aud ordered Evans to be released immediately from the Wabash County Jail, where he had been held awaiting trial.
However, Evans still faces separate felony charges for threatening a public official and making a false alarm or complaint to 911, as well as a misdemeanor assault charge. A pretrial conference for those charges is scheduled for November 25th.
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