Convicted Man Seeks New Trial

• The case of Jason Gillispie was argued before the state Supreme Court Wednesday. Gillispie was convicted of second-degree murder by a Boone County jury after a 2006 barroom fight where he fatally struck Walter McDerment II with a pool stick. Gillispie's attorney Richard Lorensen argued Wednesday his client should have a new trial because the jury foreman had signed a petition before the trial asking the circuit judge not to set bail in the case. Lorensen says the judge asked a potential juror if anybody talked to him about a petition, brought him a petition or if anybody signed a petition. The man later became the foreman of the jury that convicted Gillispie. The state's attorney, Casey Forbes, says there's a possibility the jury member didn't remember that he had signed the petition. The petition wasn't found until after Gillespie was convicted, and the jury foreman is no longer living.