Anthony B. Mertz is scheduled to be the first capital murder suspect tried in Coles County since a U.S. Supreme Court decision changed the way prosecutors charge suspects in cases were they intend to seek a more severe sentence.

Mertz, 25, a former Eastern student, has been charged with the June 12 murder of Eastern student Shannon McNamara. He is accused of breaking into the victim’s apartment at 1125 Fourth St., strangling her to death, stabbing her several times and sexually assaulting her with a knife.

In total, Mertz has been charged with eight counts of first-degree murder, six counts of aggravated criminal sexual assault and two counts of home invasion. All 16 charges are felonies.

While Mertz has essentially been charged with just three crimes, he faces 16 charges because the U.S. Supreme Court decision Apprendi v. New Jersey has changed the way prosecutors charge suspects in cases where they are seeking sentences more severe than what normally accompanies the crime.

First-degree murder usually carries with it a prison sentence of 20 to 60 years. However, after Mertz pleaded innocent in September, State’s Attorney Steve Ferguson, who leads the prosecution, announced he would seek the death penalty.

The Apprendi v. New Jersey case, decided in June of 2000, now requires prosecutors to further specify their charges in any case where they intend to seek a penalty more severe than the prescribed statuary maximum.

“Before that, we didn’t have to do that. We would wait until sentencing and present that information,” Ferguson said. “It’s not so much just in murder cases. It’s in any case where we think that we might be pursuing a sentence beyond the standard range.

In any case that we’re seeking an extended-term sentence we are required to allege the aggravating factors, and because there are different aggravating factors that can be alleged, there is some debate among appellate lawyers as to, ‘Well, can you just charge them once and list all the aggravating factors, or should you separately allege all the aggravating factors in different counts?'”

In the Mertz case, the prosecution has decided to separately charge all of the aggravating factors, which explains the number of counts. Many of the counts allege the same actions, but different motives.

Ferguson said that because the Apprendi decision is relatively recent, the courts are still interpreting it, so it is the prosecution’s intent to be as detailed as possible.

“There are a lot of court decisions that are still working their way through the courts on how to interpret that (U.S.) Supreme Court decision,” Ferguson said. “What I’m trying to do is allege or plead the case in a way that will prevent any appeals, or will hopefully answer any issues that could be raised on appeal.”

The first six counts that Mertz has been charged with are for first-degree murder.

“Counts one and two allege that he did these things knowing that the acts would cause her death,” Ferguson said. “Counts three and four allege that he did it with the intent to kill, which is a different theory, so we have to set it out in a different count and then both of them allege intent to kill.”

Counts one, three and five allege that the murder “was accompanied by exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty,” while charges two, four and six allege that the murder was committed during the course of another felony, home invasion.

Ferguson said that charges five and six are based upon what is known as the “Felony Murder Provision.” The charges allege that the the murder was committed while another “forcible felony, home invasion was committed.”

The first six charges were filed on June 27, while the remaining 10 charges were filed Jan. 5. Charges seven and eight separately allege the crime of home invasion.

“The reason that there are two different charges of home invasion is because there’s two different theories that we are proceeding on. One is that he entered the dwelling already knowing someone was in there. And then in count eight, we’re alleging that he entered the dwelling and then, let’s assume perhaps that he didn’t know someone was in there, it then alleges that he remained in the building until he knew a person was present and then intentionally caused injury to that person,” Ferguson said.

“So it’s two different theories; the same offense, but two different theories.”

The new counts also include two more counts of first-degree murder.

“In counts nine and ten we again allege first-degree murder and these again are based on the felony murder theory,” Ferguson said. “This time we have alleged that the underlying felony that was committed was aggravated criminal sexual assault.”

The final six charges allege that Mertz sexually assaulted McNamara with a knife after her death. Charges 11 and 12 allege that the assault occurred while Mertz used a dangerous weapon, a knife. Charges 13 and 14 allege that the assault caused bodily harm and the final two charges allege that the assault was committed during the commission of a home invasion. All of the sexual assault charges state that the assault “was accompanied by exceptionally brutal or heinous behavior indicative of wanton cruelty.”

While the Mertz trial, scheduled to begin on April 15, will be the first murder and first death-penalty case filed in the county since the Apprendi v. New Jersey decision, Ferguson has prosecuted other capital murder cases.

Charles C. Drum was charged with strangling Shane R. Ellison to death on Jan. 6, 1997. The prosecution had announced it would seek the death penalty, but withdrew that intent last summer. Ferguson said the prosecution realized that some evidence in the case was going to be inadmissible, so they withdrew the intent to seek the death penalty.

The other capital murder case was that of John W. Brazzell. He was charged with murder in the Dec. 21, 1996 strangulation death of Sarah Fitzpatrick. Ferguson said the prosecution had also announced the intent to seek the death penalty in that case, but withdrew that intent when Brazzell entered into a plea agreement. He pleaded guilty and received a life sentence in December of 1998.