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Doctors agree armed robbery suspect is mentally ill
Pantagraph (Bloomington, IL) - 3/8/2014
March 08--BLOOMINGTON -- A Normal man accused of three armed robberies may face time in a mental health facility rather than prison, based upon two psychiatric reports that agree he was insane when he held up a grocery store.
Public Defender Kim Campbell told a judge Friday that a doctor who examined Jason Reeves for the state agrees with a psychiatrist hired by the defense that Reeves was mentally ill when the robberies took place.
Campbell and First Assistant Bill Workman said they are working out the details of a plea agreement to resolve the case that involves three armed robberies of a Twin City Kroger store on Jan. 1, Feb. 16 and March 10, 2013. The plea hearing is set for April 18.
If Reeves is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would be sent to a state mental health facility until he is deemed well enough to be released. The longest he could be held is 45 years, which is the maximum prison term he could receive if convicted.
Reeves walks with a cane, a permanent reminder of the multiple gunshot wounds he suffered during the March 10 robbery. Andrew Smith, an off-duty Chenoa police officer working as a store security guard at the time, fired nine times, hitting Reeves five times.
Video surveillance released by police of two of the robberies shows Reeves loitering in several aisles of the store before approaching a clerk and demanding money.
An air pistol was found on Reeves when he was arrested. No criminal charges were filed against Smith.
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