At a pretrial conference hearing for the capital murder trial of Anthony B. Mertz today, the court will be updated on the progress of the defense after a continuance was granted because the defense was not ready for trial.

Today’s hearing was scheduled to begin the trial; however, Paula Phillips, Mertz’s lead attorney, told Circuit Court Judge Dale Cini on April 3 that the defense was not prepared for trial.

Instead, today’s hearing will act as an update on the defense’s progress as requested by State’s Attorney Steve Ferguson on April 3.

Because of his concern to provide a fair trial, Cini noted that if the trial began Monday, it would result in a due process violation. However, Cini did express displeasure at providing a continuance because of the need for a speedy trial. He did not set a new date for the trial to begin.

Mertz, 25, a former Eastern student, is accused of breaking into the apartment of Shannon McNamara, also a former Eastern student, strangling her to death and sexually assaulting her with a knife. He is currently being held without bond in the Coles County Jail.