McBride murder trial won’t start until opinion of her fitness to stand trial is submitted

QUINCY — A pre-trial hearing date for a Quincy woman facing four murder charges remains unchanged, but a report from a Chicago psychiatrist could change that.

Judge Scott Larson ruled Friday afternoon in Adams County Circuit Court that he would grant Josh Jones, lead trial attorney for the Adams County State’s Attorney’s office, more time to get the report from Dr. Stafford Henry, who interviewed McBride in mid-December and is preparing an opinion on the fitness of Natasha McBride to stand trial.

McBride, 37, faces four counts of murder in connection to the Aug. 14, 2020, deaths of Jenniffer Hendricks, 54, of Rushville, and Dakota Corrick, 6, Archer Corrick, 4, and Ransom Corrick, 21 months. The Corrick boys were Hendricks’ grandchildren. They lived in Kirksville, Mo.

McBride allegedly ignored a traffic light at Fourth and Broadway while driving at a high rate of speed, causing the crash. 

Jones filed a motion on Dec. 29 to extend the deadline for discovery to Jan. 10 in the case against McBride as he waited on Henry’s report. Jones filed another motion on Jan. 11 to extend the deadline again when Henry’s report still had not shown up.

At a status hearing on Wednesday morning, Judge Bob Adrian set a motion hearing for Friday afternoon about the second extension. Larson took over Friday’s hearing after Frank McCartney, chief judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit, removed Adrian from all criminal cases in an order filed Thursday.

“The issue here is (the defense) concerned that evidence might be … bad for her character,” Jones said. “The other issue is one of unfair surprise, and I think when we talk about discovery, we’re dealing with surprise to the party. We shouldn’t be having trials by surprise. We should be fair to all parties, and I want to be fair to the defendant and her attorneys as well.

“We do not have (Henry’s) report. We have not delayed that in any way, and we have not asked him to delay the report. As soon as we got the report (on McBride’s mental fitness) from the defense, we started the process of contacting Dr. Henry. … That interview took place, and he’s preparing his report. There’s no unreasonable delay by the people getting that report to the defense. We just don’t have it yet.

“I anticipate having it hopefully within the next seven days, but I can’t control that. As soon as we have it, we will turn it over. We are not acting in bad faith.”

Dr. Terry Killian, a Springfield psychiatrist, created in April for the defense a report on McBride’s fitness to stand trial. Public Defender Chris Pratt called the report from Henry “a very unique piece of evidence.”

“We don’t know what exactly it will look like, but it is the crux of this case,” Pratt said. “We have obtained an expert to provide a report as to (her fitness to stand trial). (The prosecution has) had the opportunity to obtain their own expert and get a report from their expert as well. There is a continuing obligation to disclose new materials and evidence as they are discovered. … However, we also have our procedures in place to provide for the administration of these cases. What we’re asking the court to do is to follow those rules. 

“There are not many issues in dispute in this case. Most of the facts won’t be disputed. The mental state of the defendant will be. It is going to be the main issue disputed. How that is addressed is key in this case. They have an expert who has been given the opportunity to examine Miss McBride but also had the benefit of reviewing our expert’s report before preparing his report. Now they’re asking to turn over their expert’s report at least four weeks after the discovery deadline.”

Because Jones would be turning over evidence at such a late date, Pratt said the case may need to be continued again. He asked Larson to deny the motion.

Jones noted the defense continued case multiple times. A review of McBride’s case at judici.com, which provides publicly available case information at courthouses throughout Illinois, shows the case was continued nine times between March 10 and August 4. 

“I appreciate the fact that they want their experts to review (Henry’s) report,” Jones said to Larson. “I have no qualms with that. You will not hear me if they ask for a continuance to a different docket. We will not object because that would be unfair on our part. 

“I want the defense to be prepared. I want to be prepared for trial. I think it’s frankly unfair for the defense to say ‘speedy trial’ or to use it as both the sword and the shield.”

Jones expects to have Henry’s report by Monday … “and by the end of the week at the latest.”

In his decision, Larson said the court recognized McBride is entitled to a speedy trial.

“(The prosecution is) showing that there is no bad faith. They’re not attempting to show this was delayed for any improper purpose,” he said. “We don’t even have the report yet. They’re asking for that report, and when they get it, it will be provided to the defense.”

After Larson’s decision, Pratt threw his hands up, rolled his eyes and gently shook his head.

As well as the four counts of murder, McBride also faces four counts of reckless homicide, four counts of driving on a revoked license and four courts of leaving the scene of a personal injury accident. A 17th count, aggravated driving under the influence, recently was added to McBride’s charges. She will be arraigned Tuesday on that count.

The pre-trial is scheduled for Jan. 28, with the jury trial set to begin Feb. 2. Judge Amy Lannerd has been assigned to handle the rest of the case.