The case of a former Eastern student on death row is in the appeal process.

Anthony B. Mertz, 27, was convicted in February of murdering fellow Eastern student Shannon McNamara in 2001.

It took less than one day for a jury to sentence Mertz to death.

Todd Berg, staff attorney with the state appellate defender’s office’s Death Penalty Trial Assistance branch, said a death penalty appeal in Illinois goes straight to the Illinois Supreme Court.

“First (the prosecution) has to prove the defendant guilty, then prove (the defendant) is eligible…prove this is the type of crime worthy of the death penalty,” Berg said.

“Once the death penalty is imposed, after all the post-trial motions, the appeal goes directly to the Illinois Supreme Court.”

In most cases, the defendant is appointed an attorney from the state’s appellate defense office.

Karen Swenson, associate political science professor said both the underlying conviction and the death sentence can be appealed.

“At appeal, they look at the legal briefs and answer why the conviction should be reversed or why the death penalty sentence should be reversed,” Swenson said.

A paper record of the case is submitted stating the wrongdoings at the conviction or sentencing trial level.

“The whole purpose of the appeal process is to go to somebody who has power over who issued the sentence and complain, saying ‘they did this and this which affected the fairness of the trial’,” Berg said.

If the state court rules in favor of the defendant’s appeal, the case is retried.

Should the Illinois Supreme Court rule against the defendant, the case could be appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, citing failure to uphold civil rights as reason for appeal.

Swenson said the U.S. Supreme Court only takes 1 to 2 percent of the appeals it receives.

“They are then done with that leg if the U.S. denies the appeal,” Berg said.

Another possible route is to file a writ of habeas corpus which also touches on violation of civil rights.

“It is hard to win a habeas case,” Swenson said.

In March, Mertz’s defense attorneys Paula Phillips and David Williams filed a motion of appeal listing 190 alleged trial-level errors that could potentially be grounds for acquittal.

Mertz is currently being held in Pontiac Correctional Center, sentenced with murder/other forcible felony, murder with intent to kill/injure and two home invasion with intent to cause injury offenses.

Murder/other forcible entry carries a death sentence, as does murder with intent to kill/injure.

Each of the home invasion with the intent to cause injury offenses carry 60-year sentences.

Mertz was convicted in February of breaking into McNamara’s residence in June, 2001, choking her to death with a washcloth, sexual assault and slashing her body with a knife.

During sentencing, prosecutors presented evidence connecting him to the 1999 murder of Charleston resident Amy Warner and an apartment complex arson in 2000.

City editor Carly Mullady can be reached at [email protected].