Defendant in DuPage murder abandons own defense

A man on trial for the murder of a 17-year-old Warrenville woman became agitated in court Tuesday and said he was done acting as his own attorney.

“You can proceed without me,” Joshua Matthews told DuPage County Judge Robert Kleeman. “I’m done.”

The defendant’s comments capped a full day of testimony in which Matthews called 25 witnesses to the stand, including 11 police officers who investigated his case and eight neighbors of the victim, Sade Glover.

While most of the witnesses answered general questions, Matthews was prevented by hearsay rules and other legal limitations from delving into issues he claimed were vital to his defense.

Once jurors left the courtroom for the day, Matthews grew visibly agitated during a discussion on the rules of hearsay and told the judge he didn’t plan to continue his own defense.

“Don’t bring me back in here,” he said.

But Kleeman reminded him subpoenas were issued for several additional witnesses who expect to testify Wednesday and Thursday.

“You’re coming back, Mr. Matthews,” Kleeman said.

Last week, jurors heard evidence that Matthews confessed twice — once in a videotaped police interview and once to his mother — to killing Glover in an alley behind her Warrenville townhouse on Oct. 9, 2004.

Prosecutors Bernard Murray and Steven Knight said Matthews shot Glover five times as an act of revenge after she pressed charges against him for punching her in the face months earlier.

Matthews’ brother, Albert Matthews, testified Tuesday he saw the defendant strike Glover in the earlier attack, but only after she threw punches at him during a heated argument.

“It was out of character for him,” Albert Matthews said of his brother. “I had never seen him like that.”

Joshua Matthews, of Maywood, told the judge on a break that he wanted to establish that police ignored crucial evidence, such as footprints and a shirt found near the crime scene, and coerced him into a confession. But his lines of questioning throughout the day broke little new ground.

The trial resumes Wednesday.