The 23rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office is seeking to prevent a Prairieville man charged with murder from claiming self-defense. Yet the prosecution’s argument, which uses a 2024 state law, says the defense should have complied with the law more than a year before it took effect.
Jerome Lilly, 40, is charged with second-degree murder in the July 2022 shooting of Tarrence Williams, another Prairieville resident. His trial was set to begin Wednesday, the same day Assistant District Attorney Brant Mayer introduced a motion to prevent the defense from arguing Lilly acted in self-defense.
Mayer’s motion cites a new state law that requires any defendant intending to argue self-defense to notify the district attorney in writing within 10 days of the state moving for discovery. According to the transcript of Wednesday’s hearing, Mayer said Lilly’s defense team did not provide such a notification within the required time frame…