Judge to hear testimony from witnesses in Kezer case

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. — A Cole County judge has decided to hear testimony from witnesses in the case of Joshua C. Kezer, a man serving a 60-year sentence for the second-degree murder of Angela Mischelle Lawless.

Cole County Circuit Judge Richard G. Callahan granted an evidentiary hearing, essentially a court trial, in the habeus motion Kezer's attorneys filed in April alleging that Kezer, 33, was wrongly convicted, Charles Weiss, attorney for Kezer, said Monday.

Two days were set aside on Dec. 2 and 3 at the Cole County Courthouse for Weiss and Michael Spillane, an attorney handling the case for the Missouri State Attorney General's Office, to call witnesses, but more time could be allotted if necessary, Weiss said.

Lawless was killed in November of 1992 in Benton, Mo. Scott County Sheriff Rick Walter reopened the investigation into the murder in 2006.