Charges lessened in sword case Prosecutors limited in Sugar Grove man"s case By Tona Kunz Daily Herald Staff Writer Posted Saturday, July 09, 2005 When a Sugar Grove resident goes on trial Monday for slicing a homeless man with a samurai sword, jurors will hear two men tell tales of an argument that escalated out of control, each blaming the other for being the aggressor. That’s a very bland version of  the story after Raymond Wilson’s arrest last December. Because prosecutors Friday dropped charges of aggravated unlawful restraint and conspiracy to commit bank robbery they will be limited on what they can mention in trial. Wilson, 47, remains charged with armed violence and multiple counts of aggravated battery. Prosecutor Amy Engerman said she pared down the charges as part of the trial strategy. She still believes the victim’s story he told to police that he intended to rob a bank with Wilson and was later held hostage by the Sugar Grove man. Still, the strategy has consequences. Without the robbery and restraint charges, a judge deemed irrelevant much of the prosecution’s tale of how the two men got together. Barred from the courtroom is the claim that Wilson, a convicted bank robber from California, and an acquaintance went scouting banks to rob in Elgin to help the man pay drug debts. Prosecutors had said that plan was scrapped Nov. 8, after Wilson and the man got in a fight over drugs and Wilson attacked the man with a sword, scarring his face and making him too recognizable for use in a robbery. Prosecutors also had alleged that Wilson then held the man hostage in his Sugar Grove home for two days, trying to decide what to do, before letting him go with a badly infected gash on his cheek. Wilson’s defense attorney Kathleen Colton of Batavia said the tale of scouting banks was made up by the homeless drug addict after he was attacked. Jurors will hear about Wilson’s 1995 conviction for bank robbery. The judge said that conviction shows Wilson’s willingness to plan to break the law, which plays into whether he would follow the oath to tell the truth on the witness stand. Jurors also will hear the alleged victim say he used to get drugs from Wilson and that the fight occurred after Wilson accused him of stealing cocaine from his house while the man was staying there. But mentioning other drug use is out of the question, the judge said. Unless the defense says Wilson never used drugs, jurors won’t hear about items seized a month later at Wilson’s house that included what police called a crack pipe, baggies with marijuana residue, a homemade bludgeon and partial extension cord. Defense attorneys argued the items can’t be tied to Wilson and would prejudice the jury’s view of him. The defense also won victories in getting barred, at least for the time being; mentioning threatening phone calls by Wilson to the man’s family; and past fights that man told police he had with Wilson that left him with a chipped tooth and scarred arm. The judge said he would consider allowing the evidence later if prosecutors could give more detail as to how it was relevant to sword attack. Prosecutors have said the fights and phone calls paint a picture of a violent man who wasn’t acting in self-defense. Defense attorneys say the claims are fabricated. Attorneys expect the trial to last two days and boil down to which man the jury believes, because no one else was present during the Nov. 8 fight in Wilson’s bedroom.