JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A judge hearing arguments Friday on whether to allow evidence, including surveillance video, in the aggravated assault case against Russell Tillis ordered the trial to be delayed until the FDLE can analyze the evidence. Monday, the case was passed until April 28, when they will finish motion hearing on the video evidence and set trial dates on both cases against Tillis.
Tillis, 54, has been in jail since May 2015, when police said two officers were attacked with knives while they were serving him with arrest warrants for violating injunctions neighbors had obtained against him.
Police announced in December that Tillis was also charged with murder, kidnapping, human trafficking, abuse of a body and evidence tampering in the death of Joni Lynn Gunter, whose remains were found buried in Tillis' yard.
About nine months after Tillis was arrested on the aggravated assault charges, police searching the home after receiving a tip dug up Gunter's remains.
Tillis' lawyers are seeking to suppress evidence, including the knives with which Tillis is accused of being armed and surveillance video of the incident, in the aggravated assault case.
Lawyers for Tillis accused the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office of withholding evidence, specifically the surveillance video. Surveillance video was requested on several occasions, and defense lawyers were told that none existed, but about 5 minutes of video was given to the defense by a neighbor in May 2016, attorneys said.
The neighbor wasn’t deposed until last week, and he told Tillis’ lawyers that he showed the video to JSO the morning of the incident in 2015, and gave them a thumb drive containing the video the next day. It’s unclear if JSO ever told prosecutors about the surveillance video.
The neighbor’s hard drive, which might have more surveillance video, is being analyzed by the FDLE lab in Tallahassee. Until that analysis is complete, the judge is delaying the start of Tillis' trial, which had been set to begin next week.
Tillis' attorney spent hours Friday morning grilling JSO officers who were there the night Tillis was arrested, apparently trying to paint them as the aggressors in the encounter and saying that one of the men had changed his story.
The lawyer asked Sgt. Jason Bailey why he couldn't remember a witness' answers when he was deposed in March 2016 but he could remember those answers Friday during the hearing.
“I think I just misunderstood your question at the time of the deposition,” Bailey said.
Tillis' lawyer said he believes there could possibly be video that’s out there that shows JSO officers acted improperly during the arrest and asked the officers why JSO didn't catalog and keep surveillance video from the neighbors.
JSO officers also testified that Tillis was holding knives during the arrest and let out what they characterized as a battle cry. One officer described Tillis' home as a fortress with razor blades in bushes and trip wires. He said Tillis changed once he was in handcuffs.
“He was polite, apologetic, cordial and friendly,” Sgt. Joel Weeks said. “He knew he was going to jail for that and requested I keep an eye on his house.”
Defense lawyers also asked a lot of questions about the knives, looking for proof that they were in Tillis' hands, and argued that officers didn't use proper warrants to gather evidence, so it should be thrown out before trial.