Christian Reichert
JACKSON CO., Ill. - The trial of a man whose mid-2016 arrest created a firestorm of controversy in Williamson County has begun in neighboring Jackson County.
Christian Reichert, 26, who's originally from Williamson, is the guy whose trial is underway in Murphysboro. He was accused of major cannabis trafficking, this dating back to the summer of 2016, the articles of which you can read at this link.
Coverage of the case brought out shriekers and howlers in Marion, namely, Reichert's mother, who spent several weeks arguing with us about the case against her kid, and has spent the past two years filling our Williamson County correspondent (Becky, who's covering the trial) full of a mom-version of how her boy was RAWWWWNNNNGED! ('wronged,' for those unfamiliar with hickinese). She was doing a good job, too; Becky reports that her mouth was agape when the state's case got underway today, evidence presented and testimony given; it appears that things went down exactly as officials have told us they did all along, and that Ms. Tina was prevaricating a bit, all in the name of preserving her kid.
In short: It doesn't look good for Reichert.
Becky reports that the first witness for the prosecution was former Carbondale police officer Trey Harris; regular readers will recall that Harris was the one who suffered a gunshot wound to the face in the pursuit of what was initially believed to be gangbangers driving through Carbondale on one of the many shootings they have there.
Harris testified that he was on duty with another officer, with Harris being in the passenger seat, and stated he saw someone lean from the passenger side of the vehicle they were pursuing and sit on the window ledge of the car and point a rifle. He said he didn’t have time to tell the officer driving they were about to be shot at. He thought there were six to eight shots. Seven 223 Remington shell casings were found on Dillinger Road. It was later revealed by testimony from two others that 5 shell casings were found in the backyard of the lake home that Reichert was renting with several others at Lake of Egypt. Two casings were 223, one similar but unidentifiable; and two were 380s.
More casings were found in the burned car, which you can read about here. It also came out in testimony today that Reichert purchased the car under a fake name.
The state was continuing testimony very late (well after 4 p.m.) when Becky scooted out; she's back today, and will be reporting in this afternoon.