On Thursday, a friend of the Sentinel alerted us to an alarming scene at the Johnson County Courthouse and predicted a mistrial for De’Anthony Wiley, on trial for the January 2015 killing of She’s-A-Pistol Proprietor Jon Bieker.
Today, the media have reported that a mistrial was declared but give no clue as to why. Fox4kc reports the barest facts: “The Johnson County District Attorney’s office confirmed on Friday that there has been a mistrial n the case of a man charged in the murder of a Shawnee gun store owner. The trial began on Monday in Johnson County. On Thursday, prosecutors were nearing the end of their case against DeAnthony Wiley when trial was postponed. When they returned on Friday, the mistrial was declared.”
On Thursday, a reliable observer who has attended the trial from the beginning reported that Wiley, while in a small holding room at the Johnson County Courthouse alone with his two attorneys, collapsed and was given emergency aid at the scene after being removed from his wheelchair. He was subsequently rushed to the Olathe Medical Center.
Wiley, who was shot by Bieker in the incident, is paralyzed from the diaphragm down. He was claiming self-defense, saying he was on the ground unable to move when Bieker came at him firing. The observer reported, however, that the trial was not going well for Wiley. Using the imagery from the store’s eight surveillance cameras, prosecutors put together a second by second montage that showed Wiley as the one who fired first at Bieker.
There was much speculation at the courthouse as to cause of the collapse, including the possibility that drugs had been smuggled in and given to Wiley, but there was no confirmation at the scene. To this point, the media have not reported at all on Wiley’s collapse. More news as it develops.