PINEVILLE -- Pretrial motions were heard today in the trial of Robert Neil Joos Jr. on resisting arrest and illegal weapons charges.
Special Judge Ken Rominges, over-ruled each of Joos' motions at this morning's hearing and set a suppression hearing for this afternoon.
The judge continually asked Joos to consider an Alford plea in which he would deny responsibility, but admit that the state had enough evidence to convict. The judge offered Joos a sentence of time served and told him he could go home today if he presented an Alford plea.
Near the end of this morning's hearing, Rominges offered Joos two misdemeanor convictions, as opposed to felony convictions. At press time Joos was still considering those options.
Joos' main concern in pleading would be how that would affect any civil suit he might file against McDonald County.
Approximately six supporters turned out to offer moral support to Joos.
Joos, 43, is a self-proclaimed Nazarite pastor and founder of the Sacerdotal Order of David church located on a 200-acre tract near Cyclone.
Joos was arrested by the highway patrol June 29, 1994, on a county road outside his church compound. Authorities say he resisted arrest by kicking the late Cpl. Bobbie Harper and had a concealed pistol in his van. He was arrested on a court of appeals warrant issued in 1987 after he lost an appeal of a 1986 jury conviction of simulating legal process.
In a August 1994 search of the Joos property authorities found several weapons and explosives, some of which they said were illegal. They also found white supremacists materials.
Joos had been held in the McDonald County Jail in lieu of $185,000 bond since his arrest and has refused to attend court in recent hearings. He has filed a multitude of motions with the court which should be resolved today.
Trial is to be held Tuesday with 85 venue persons summoned to court. Extra security is being provided by the Missouri State Highway Patrol.
Joos has been associated with Timothy Thomas Coombs, a 37-year-old former Witts Springs, Ark., man who is charged with attempted murder of Cpl. Harper by shooting him in the abdomen through Harper's kitchen window the night of Sept. 16, 1994. Harper recovered from the gun-shot wound for the most part but died April 3 of complications during heart surgery. Coombs remains at large.
Monday, August 26, 1996