Preparations for the trial of a young man charged in a shooting outside the Waterloo movie theater came to a grinding halt Friday in Monroe County Circuit Court.

Brenndan M. Pietlukiewicz, 21, of Waterloo, was charged with aggravated battery/discharge firearm and aggravated discharge of a firearm (occupied vehicle) for his role in the Nov. 4 shooting.

Court information alleges that “while committing a battery to Kyle Johnson,” Pietlukiewicz discharged a firearm into Johnson’s leg.

Pietlukiewicz has been in custody at the Monroe County Jail since the charges were filed.

On Friday, Pietlukiewicz pled not guilty to a third charge of obstruction of justice, but not before a temporary delay for defense attorney Robert Bas to review the amended complaint alleges.

Bas claimed not to have received an electronic copy of the obstruction charge, filed Dec. 29, which alleges Pietlukiewicz deleted text messages sent from his phone to the victim.

Following the not guilty plea, Bas and Monroe County State’s Attorney Ryan Webb were to argue several motions filed in December regarding admission of certain evidence and testimonies in the case. 

Bas sought to exclude video evidence – a recording of Pietlukiewicz discharging the firearm at Johnson – due to the likelihood it would present a “danger of unfair prejudice” by a jury.

In Webb’s response, he argues the recording is a significant piece of evidence despite the defense’s claim it does not provide full context of the event. 

That motion and several others were not even considered after Bas reported he had not received much of the evidence referred to by prosecutors.

Bas noted he was “not blaming the State (Webb),” explaining he has experienced difficulty accessing electronically filed “discovery” evidence in an unrelated case.

Webb suggested the delay was intentional, referring to “games that are sometimes played” during  pretrial hearings.

Webb later explained that all evidence is electronically uploaded to a site designated for a specific case, adding that Bas had more than a month to review the submissions or report missing documents.

Webb also noted a plea agreement with “significant concessions” was offered and refused, with the deal expiring Jan. 9.

Monroe County Resident Circuit Judge Chris Hitzemann allowed a sealed copy of the agreement to be entered into evidence.

Hitzemann added its inclusion was strictly for the official record, noting he would not read the submitted offer. 

Following Webb’s opening statements, Bas denied “nefarious” intentions in the matter of missing evidence. 

He then attempted to argue his motion to include character information about the victim but was stopped shortly thereafter.

Hitzemann precluded any arguments on Friday, ordering a continuance to ensure Bas had “sufficient time” to review any evidence to be used in the case.

Hitzemann also noted he did not want to proceed further as he wished to avoid a potential future motion from Bas claiming he was not given enough time to examine evidence. 

A recess was ordered to allow Bas and Assistant State’s Attorney Tim Stubblefield to review what evidence Bas was missing. 

Webb exited the courtroom as the recess began, returning briefly to confer with Stubblefield before leaving again.

A status hearing is set for Jan. 15, and the pretrial motions are scheduled to be heard Jan. 21.

A tentative jury trial in the matter is set for Jan. 26, but Hitzemann noted the week of Feb. 2 has been added to the court schedule for jury trials. 

Webb later explained SAFE-T Act provisions require a trial date within 90 days of a suspect being charged, with Feb. 2 being the final day the trial may begin while still satisfying the law.