Abigail Martin to make court appearances in September and October

HILLSBORO/JACKSONVILLE/SPRINGFIELD — A Macoupin County woman continues to face pre-trial delays in three regional cases. Abigail L. Martin, 23, continues to face trial delays in three different counties: Montgomery, Morgan and Sangamon.

The reason: legal counsel withdrawing from her cases. As a result, she now has counsel in all three counties via the Public Defender’s office.

Martin to appear in Hillsboro September 14

In Montgomery County, Martin was arrested on May 1 for identity theft and practicing nursing without a license. Her original representation was Sean Rees of Brandenburg-Rees and Rees, a Carlinville law firm. However, Rees withdrew from the case on May 13.

Martin would then retain the services of Taylor Springs lawyer Alan Pretnar. Pretnar would issue his motion to withdraw on July 30 during a Zoom hearing.

Currently, Public Defender Erin Mattson is representing Martin as of August 20. Martin is to appear at a pre-trial hearing on September 14.

October hearing date in the books in Jacksonville

There is very little activity on the Martin case in Morgan County in her August 5 appearance. However, Public Defender Tom Piper is handling the forgery case. Allegations state that Martin forged documents at a local car dealership to purchase a car under false pretenses in an April 2019 incident.

Martin has appeared in court several times with four different attorneys, all withdrawing as counsel, prior to Piper’s assignment.

A new pre-trial hearing will be on October 7.

Martin to appear in Sangamon County court in late September

In a similar forgery case, Martin faces allegations by the Village of Pawnee, who claims she wrote false checks for water payments. Despite limited activity on the case due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Martin is set to appear in court September 21 with representation by Public Defender Stephanie Hammer.

Wanted on out-of-state warrants

A WLDS report states that Martin has out-of-state warrants in North Carolina and South Carolina. The warrants are related to procurement of goods under false pretenses. However, there is no information available regarding those warrants as of press time.

Parts of this story came from a news report from WLDS Radio.

For more local and Illinois state news, follow Jake Leonard @JakeLeonardWPMD and Heartland Newsfeed @HLNF_Bulletin on Twitter.

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Jake Leonard

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Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.

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