JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The aggravated assault trial of Russell Tillis ended abruptly Wednesday after the judge learned the prosecution turned over additional evidence in the case to the defense Tuesday night -- two days after the trial began.
Tillis, 54, has been in jail on charges of aggravated assault on law enforcement officers, resisting arrest and battery of an officer since May 2015, when police said two officers were attacked with knives while they were serving Tillis with arrest warrants for violating injunctions neighbors had obtained against him.
Tillis also faces charges of kidnapping and murder after a tip led police to dig at Tillis' property in February 2016. After spending several days at the property, investigators found a set of human remains, which were later identified as those of Joni Lynn Gunter.
A jury was seated Monday and heard testimony about the 2015 attack from two Jacksonville officers on Tuesday. Judge Mark Borello told the defense and prosecution during Thursday's final pretrial hearing that he expected the trial to last two days, but Wednesday morning, the prosecution's case was delayed while attorneys on both sides debated some 2015 police documents that were provided to the defense after the trial began.
Borello ruled that an evidence discovery violation had occurred, and while it appeared it was inadvertent, he granted the defense motion for a mistrial.
"To say the court is not pleased with these developments is an understatement," Borello said.
Tillis’ attorney, James Boyle, released a statement after the trial adjourned:
Mr. Tillis and I are both frustrated with the recent developments concerning items of discovery that were requested more than 16 months ago. We look forward to reviewing these documents, attempting to determine why they were not disclosed to the defense sooner and whether there are any additional materials that have been withheld.”
Attorney Gene Nichols, who is not affiliated with the case, told News4Jax that while the mistake necessitated a mistrial, it wasn’t damaging enough to throw out the case.
"Judge Borello, in this case, determined the state it was not intentional. It was not an action that they were trying to deceive the defense, so because of that, because a mistake was made in the trial -- mistakes happen all of the time."
On Monday, Borello granted a defense motion to prohibit the term "booby trap" from being used in the trial. Tillis had been accused of leading the police officers that came to his home through a set of booby traps, but prosecutors were told to only describe those objects minus the term.
After the mistrial, the state appeared committed to retry Tillis on the assault. A status hearing was set for next Thursday to discuss the next trial.
“We respect the court’s decision and will be prepared to retry Mr. Tillis when the court schedules jury selection," State Attorney Melissa Nelson said in a statement.
No trial date has been set in the murder trial, but Borello appointed Tillis' attorney in the aggravated assault case as co-counsel on his other case.
Last month, police returned to the home Tillis once owned, where Gunter's remains were found. They have not said if they found anything new.
Despite that, police said they believe that Tillis could have abused or killed other young women, particularly drug abusers, prostitutes or women who weren't in regular contact with family and who wouldn't be missed.