Court: No cameras allowed at Sheley hearing

Court officials in northwestern Illinois say cameras will be barred from a pretrial hearing for man suspected of being a serial killer.

Nicholas Sheley’s murder trial in Morrison is viewed as the first big test of the Illinois Supreme Court’s recent decision to experiment with cameras in state courtrooms.

The clerk’s office at the Morrison courthouse says cameras won’t be allowed at Friday’s hearing. One issue the judge will address is whether cameras will be permitted when Sheley’s trial starts March 5.

Media groups had hoped cameras would be allowed as soon as Friday.

Prosecutors want the presiding judge to prohibit cameras at the trial on grounds they would make it harder to give Sheley a fair trial.

Sheley is accused of killing eight people in Illinois and Missouri in 2008.