Olutosin Oduwole: Should Student Who Wrote of "Murderous Rampage" Remain in Prison?

Mar 25, 2013 at 6:00 am

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"The jurors in this case weighed all of the evidence presented to them, and, after thorough deliberations, they determined that the defendant was a threat to the safety of Madison County and its residents," Gibbons says in his most recent statement, sent out last week. "They found beyond a reasonable doubt that the Defendant had taken substantial steps toward making a terrorist threat."

That conviction, however, was overturned earlier this month when a unanimous three-judge panel of an Illinois appellate court found insufficient evidence for a conviction.

In Gibbons' push for an appeal -- with a written request to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan asking her to file a petition with the state Supreme Court -- he notes that police investigating the case found a loaded .25 caliber handgun in Oduwole's campus apartment, along with evidence that he had ordered three identical .380 caliber semi-automatic handguns and a .45 caliber semi-automatic firearm.

Gibbons notes that Oduwole had allegedly created a short video "containing even more explicit threatening language similar to the note."

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville - via
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Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

The overturned conviction this month was separate from illegal gun charges against Oduwole -- for which he was convicted and has already served a year sentence.

Here's the full release from Gibbons.

Madison County State's Attorney

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