Appellate court affirms conviction in 2004 Warrenville murder
One of the few men in DuPage County court history to be banished to a soundproof box during a trial in which he was defending himself has had his murder conviction upheld.
The Second District Appellate Court of Illinois has affirmed the first-degree murder conviction of Joshua Matthews, 30, for the 2004 shooting death of his former girlfriend, 17-year-old Sade Glover of Warrenville.
A jury found Matthews guilty of first-degree murder in January 2011. On Feb. 23, 2011, Judge Robert Kleeman sentenced Matthews to 100 years in prison.
Prosecutors said Matthews ambushed Glover, a childhood friend and College of DuPage student, as she exited a car outside her home late on Oct. 9, 2004, just weeks after she pressed battery charges against him for allegedly punching her in the face.
After a brief altercation, Matthews pulled a gun on Sade and shot her at point-blank range five times. Matthews then fled the scene.
On Oct. 11, 2004, Matthews was arrested and charged with the murder of Sade Glover.
At sentencing, prosecutors called several officers from the DuPage County jail who testified that Matthews possessed marijuana and weapons, including a glass cutter, a hammer and multiple cutting tools, or "shanks," in his six years in custody.
They also detailed his extensive criminal history, which included 10 juvenile detention petitions and adult arrests for beating a cabdriver with a stick and snatching a woman's purse at a suburban bank.
In his appeal, Matthews first argued that the trial court erred in denying his request to withdraw his waiver of counsel. Matthews made this claim alleging that after he had waived counsel, "the trial court imposed a significant change in the circumstances of his self-representation." The "change in circumstances" involved Matthews' phone privileges while at the DuPage County jail.
The appellate court, however, disagreed with Matthews' contention and found that he "was unhappy with the trial court's decision to change his phone privileges" and that he "tried to manipulate the court into restoring unlimited phone privileges."
In its decision, the appellate court noted that Matthews, who was initially represented by counsel until July 14, 2006, had since that time, "filed numerous motions and other pleadings and had generous phone privileges." The appellate court also noted that Matthews "reaffirmed his choice to represent himself in September 2007, August 2010 and September 2010."
Matthews' appeal also claimed the trial court erred in denying his motion to suppress his confession. The appellate court also rejected this claim.
Matthews' appeal was defended by Edward Psenicka of the DuPage County State's Attorney's Criminal Appeals Division.