DeKalb bank robbery trial postponed until August

SYCAMORE – A half hour before jury selection was to begin Monday for a DeKalb bank robbery trial, the man accused asked a judge to postpone, arguing prosecutors didn’t give him enough time to review evidence.

Lead prosecutor Daniel Regna said in response that Matthew L. Martin, 44, of Chicago was “gaming the system.”

Regna told Circuit Court Judge Philip Montgomery he and fellow assistant state’s attorney Brooks Locke were prepared for trial to begin. Martin had said the same as recent as Friday afternoon.

“What’s he’s doing today is gaming the system, judge,” Regna said, pointing at Martin. “This defendant is gaming the system because what he’s asking today he could have asked Friday, minimum we could have saved 60 citizens coming in and wasting their time.”

Prosecutors planned to present testimony from 32 witnesses, Regna said. They’d subpoenaed police and forensic experts including from the DeKalb Police Department, Federal Bureau of Investigations, Illinois State Police and Illinois Tollway.

Martin is charged with armed robbery and unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon after police said a man dressed in camouflage-style clothing, wearing a hat and an orange vest, threatened employees with a gun and stole $50,000 in cash at about 8:21 a.m. July 31, 2024, at Illinois Community Credit Union, 1500 Barber Greene Road, DeKalb. Authorities have alleged that man is Martin. They said he fled in a car with a second person, though no second suspect has been arrested as of Monday.

If convicted of armed robbery, Martin could face between six and 30 years in prison. If he’s found guilty of armed robbery with a firearm, he’d face between 21 and 45 years. Extended sentencing could see 42 to 90 years, Montgomery said. The sentences would be served at 50%.

Martin turned down two plea offers last week which would have handed down lighter sentences. Prosecutors said he countered with two offers of his own. They were rejected by the DeKalb County State’s Attorney’s Office.

On Monday, Martin argued in a tense exchange that he wasn’t prepared for trial.

“I don’t think the prosecutors take into the fact I’ve been asking for these things since day one,” Martin said. “I’m not trying to game the system. I want to be prepared.”

Upon his arrest, he requested a speedy trial. In Illinois, that means prosecutors must bring evidence to a jury within 120 days. Trial initially was set for November, and then December. In January, Martin requested a public defender and the trial was pushed back again. In late March, he dismissed his lawyer.

Martin said he needed more time to review evidence prosecutors shared with him, including blood samples and DNA testing results. Regna said the DNA record was obtained by the state’s attorney’s office Friday afternoon from the ISP forensics lab in Rockford.

Prosecutors have argued they’ve expedited their trial preparation at Martin’s request.

“I’m not trying to game the system. I want to be prepared.”

—  Matthew L. Martin

In the 192 days since his Sept. 27, 2024, arrest, Martin has maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty. In pretrial hearings, he’s argued police wrongfully arrested him without sufficient evidence to connect him to the crime.

But prosecutors have said that surveillance camera footage from the bank and tollway traffic cameras, and DNA connects him to the robbery.

In the courtroom, Martin appears knowledgeable, citing case law and asking questions. Montgomery said he’s represented himself before.

Dozens of DeKalb County residents were expected to respond to jury duty call Monday. Witness testimony was expected to begin Tuesday. Martin told Montgomery he “had no intentions” of testifying in his defense. He didn’t plant to call expert witnesses of his own as of Monday, either.

Evidence in the case against Martin is “voluminous,” both Montgomery and Regna said. More than 570 pages of evidence was handed over to Martin at the jail by the State’s Attorney’s Office in December, Regna said. More than 300 items, including 200 gigabytes of data, came to him also. He dismissed his brief public defender in late March.

Regna argued his team complied with Martin’s request for evidence in “a reasonable and timely manner” under the law.

“Never in my 30 years of practicing law, criminal law both prosecution and defense, have I ever seen a defense attorney so recklessly push and demand 120 days speedy trail with the DNA,” Regna said of Martin. “He certainly has a right to do that, I get that, I accept that, I respect that. It’s a constitutional right of his.”

From DeKalb County jail where he’s being held without release, Martin has filed multiple handwritten motions requesting copies of court hearing transcripts and evidence. Cheek swabs and blood samples were collected from him and sent to ISP and FBI labs for testing. He said he initially did not want hand over his DNA sample because of his “distrust of DeKalb police,” who lead the bank robbery investigation.

He told the judge Monday he felt like he was “being punished” for exercising lawful speedy trial demands.

“None of this falls on me, your honor,” Martin said, who objected to his own request for continuance being attributed to himself. “[...] All of this could have been done months ago.”

Montgomery granted Martin’s request, but told Martin that trial preparation takes time. Regna said rescheduling witnesses in summer months is difficult due to the travel season. Montgomery said he’s got other jury trials planned also.

“To suggest that we could turn this around in a week or two I think would be impossible,” Montgomery said.

Three new dates were set in Martin’s case: A status hearing at 10 a.m. on June 2; a final pretrial status hearing at 1:30 p.m. on Aug. 13; and a new trial date of 10 a.m. Aug. 18.