‘Everything I know, I learned in kindergarten’: Jones says contraband possession case against Yohn is simple

QUINCY — Adams County State’s Attorney Josh Jones says the case against Bradley Yohn comes down to one simple thing. 

Following the rules.

Jones said in his opening statement Monday afternoon before a jury of seven men and five women in Adams County Circuit Court that Yohn’s failure to follow the rules on Nov. 15 is why he is in court defending himself against a charge of possessing contraband in a penal institution.

Yohn was charged Nov. 15 with three counts of possessing contraband in a penal institution, a Class 1 felony, and communicating with a witness, a Class 3 felony. An Adams County grand jury indicted Yohn on Dec. 8. However, two of the charges of possessing contraband, as well as the charge of communicating with a witness, were dropped before Monday’s jury trial began.

Jury selection was held Monday morning, and opening arguments were made starting at 1:30 p.m. 

Jones and assistant state’s attorney Laura Keck called three witnesses before resting their case at 3:10 p.m. Yohn, defending himself pro se, called one witness back to the stand before Judge Frank McCartney sent jurors home at 3:20 p.m.

After jurors left the courtroom, McCartney asked Yohn if he plans to testify when the trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.

“Darn right I will,” he said. “(Jones) can cross-examine me all he wants.”

In his opening statement, Jones referred to a poster in his secretary’s office that summarized his presentation.

“Everything I know, I learned in kindergarten,” he said. “One of the things in that poster is to follow the rules. This case, distilled to its most fundamental nature, to its most basic parts, is about that. We have rules that we all have to follow. There are rules in the Adams County Jail.

“On Nov. 15, the defendant had something in his possession that was not allowed. He had two thumb drives. They were hidden in a bar of soap and his mattress. That evidence will be uncontroverted. … You will learn through the course of the trial that the defendant was told he cannot have those in your cell.”

Yohn, dressed in a blue shirt and khaki pants instead of his jail-issued jumpsuit, said the criminal act he is charged with is “extremely absurd.” He told jurors Jones would “try to muddy the waters” with evidence to make it appear as if Yohn was in possession of contraband. He said contraband is illegal “if, in fact, you are holding contraband.”

“I will attempt to prove to you that the charges of possessing contraband are in fact of a fairly ridiculous nature,” Yohn said. “They are a violation to the defendant’s discovery rights and defendant’s rights as a whole.

“I will prove to you the law has in fact been broken by those who represent the law. I will prove to you … that your time has been wasted by those of the prosecution … with that arrest.”

Jones called three witnesses from the Adams County Jail — administrator Brian Curran, correctional officer Cole Anderson and Sgt. Laura Graham.

Curran explained Yohn was alone in his cell and was allowed to keep paper discovery in his cell. However, he was not allowed to have CDs and thumb drives in his cell, explaining Yohn didn’t have a laptop in his cell to view those items.

When Jones asked Curran why no inmates are allowed to have CDs or flash drives in their cell, Curran replied, “CDs can be broken up, and you can make a sharp edge out of them. Flash drives contain metal, and any inmate can use that to fashion some kind of a weapon.”

Anderson testified an inmate in the jail had told him Yohn had thumb drives in his cell and a “shake down” would be performed to find them.

“An inmate can tear (thumb drives) apart and use them for shivs and shanks,” he said.

Anderson, Graham and a third officer searched Yohn’s cell. A flash drive was found inside a bar of soap (which Anderson broke in half to discover), and a second drive was found in Yohn’s mattress. 

Yohn asked several questions about a third thumb drive found by Anderson in a bar of soap he provided to another inmate. After McCartney cleared the courtroom, Yohn claimed jail officials “cleared” more than 50 pages of discovery pertaining to a November 2021 sexual assault case in which Yohn also is defending himself. He said the thumb drive contained information he planned to give to Muddy River News.

“I would ask for a complete dismissal in this case for tampering with evidence and destruction of evidence,” Yohn said. “It’s a major violation.”

Jones said the third thumb drive was not introduced as evidence because it was pertaining to one of the dismissed counts. 

Yohn was determined to make his point, however.

“It’s evidence, and everybody knows that evidence and the crime shall not be tampered with and shall not be destructed,” he said. “There’s no way around it, your honor. I don’t mean to get upset or aggravated with you. You’re a very pleasant person. But facts are facts, and there is no way around it. I’ve waited for this day.”

McCartney eventually said Yohn’s questioning was not irrelevant, but he wasn’t going to dismiss the case.

After a brief witness given by Graham (followed by a short cross examination by Yohn), Jones rested his case. Yohn then called Graham back to the stand and claimed jail investigator Kelsey Miller gave Graham authorization to review what was on the third thumb drive found in a different cell.

Several of Yohn’s questions for witnesses throughout the day were objected by Jones, and McCartney sustained many of the objections — frustrating Yohn.

When McCartney sent jurors home, he then asked Yohn which witnesses he planned to interview on Tuesday. Yohn said he wants to interview Miller, but after Jones said Miller only was involved in one of the dismissed counts, McCartney agreed her testimony would not be needed.

Yohn complained bitterly.

“Everything on the thumb drive was my discovery, my presentation, my actual trial presentation, which would have been a lot better than (it was) here today,” he said. “The whole state knows everything.”

As McCartney turned to Jones to ask a question, Yohn said, “I can never have a fair trial here.”

McCartney told Yohn any claims of procedural misconduct involving the third thumb drive should be addressed when Yohn returns Wednesday to Adams County Circuit Court in front of Judge Roger Thomson regarding the sexual assault case.