Fitness Trial Looming For Man Charged In Three Killings
ST. CHARLES, Ill. (STMW) -- Five years after an attorney first raised questions about Quentin Moore's fitness to stand trial on murder charges, a jury will soon be seated to formally decide the issue, the Beacon-News is reporting.
Prosecutors and Moore's lawyer, Herbert Hill, briefly appeared in Kane County court Thursday to solidify plans for a fitness trial to begin on Sept. 16. Typically, a judge considers evidence and makes a ruling on whether a defendant is capable of assisting and participating in their defense. In Moore's case, attorneys will put that evidence before jurors.
Moore, 32, was charged in 2007 with killing three people as part of the large-scale Operation First Degree Burn sweep that cleared multiple cold-case murders tied to gangs in Aurora. He is accused of shooting to death Larry Postlewaite and Sharon Paulette in 2001 and participating in the 2005 beating death of Jorge Caro.
The attorney representing Moore in 2008 initially suggested issues with his ability to stand trial, although an evaluation by the Kane County Diagnostic Center deemed him fit.
In 2010, Hill requested another mental exam for Moore, who was described in the Diagnostic Center report as having a thought process "marred by persecutory delusions," court records show. Hill became Moore's lawyer in 2010 after Moore attacked his previous attorney in court just as jury selection was about to start in the Caro murder trial, according to court documents and published reports. Moore was charged with aggravated battery following the incident.
A judge in 2011 appointed a forensic psychiatrist and a clinical psychologist to examine Moore and assist Hill. The court has granted approximately $23,000 in payments to the doctors since their appointments, records show. The fees are being paid for because Moore is indigent.
Moore, who returns to court Sept. 12 for a final pre-trial status hearing, is currently serving a 23-year prison sentence for an attempted murder conviction.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
