Missed Zoom conference leads to new delay in La Crosse murder case

Missing a courtroom hearing in a criminal case is a common occurrence, but missing a court hearing by Zoom is more unusual.

Apparently, workers at one Wisconsin prison failed to arrange a Zoom conference for an inmate accused in a 2019 La Crosse murder, so an evidence hearing set for Wednesday had to be postponed until next month.

Police say Shavonte Thompson shot and killed 18-year-old Javier Hall in an alley near Copeland Park in November of 2019. 

Thompson was captured in Illinois two months later, and is now in the Dodge prison on other charges.

He was supposed to appear before Judge Todd Bjerke at a Zoom hearing, but it seems nobody at the prison set up that conference.

Bjerke says getting Thompson out of prison and transporting him to the La Crosse jail for a video hearing would not benefit anyone.