UNION — The man accused of shooting to death a Hermann police detective and wounding of a patrolman will be formally arraigned on amended charges during a scheduled 9 a.m. Sept. 7 hearing in Gasconade County.

Kenneth Lee Simpson appeared by video Friday afternoon for a 15-minute preliminary hearing held in Franklin County before Judge Matthew W. Houston where the court accepted the public defender’s waiver of the formal reading of the amended complaint filed July 28 against Simpson by the state Attorney General’s Office.  The amended complaint included two additional unlawful possession of weapons charges, possession of a controlled substance, and resisting arrest (see related story on page 3).

The amended complaint means the case now goes back to the Associate Circuit Court’s Division II for formal arraignment on the additional charges.

Assistant Attorney General Gregory Goodwin met with family members of both Griffith and Sullentrup inside Room 201 of the Franklin County court building.

“Right now we’re in the in-between zone of circuit court and associate circuit court,” Goodwin told family members of the two Hermann policemen after the hearing. He suggested it will be difficult for the families of the policemen to see Simpson in person since there is the potential the arraignment next month will also be waived.

He said they could expect possible motions to change judges again or the venue of where future proceedings will take place in the capital murder case. He told them the next hearing could be “very similar” to the one on Friday.

Simpson, who remains jailed in the Crawford County Adult Detention Center in Steelville without bond, addressed the judge with “yes sir” and “yes your honor” responses when asked if he understood he was voluntarily waiving his right to a preliminary hearing and  “absolutely” when asked if he had read and signed the amended complaint. He also replied he was “100 percent satisfied” when asked if he was satisfied with his attorney from the Public Defender’s Office.

The start of the scheduled 1 p.m. hearing was delayed about five minutes as court clerks and staff reconnected the “polycom” video linkup with the jail in Steelville. The courtroom’s one video monitor was set up so only the judge could see the defendant.

Houston apologized to family members, friends, and fellow law enforcement officers of the two Hermann policemen present in court for not being able to view the defendant on the video system.

“Unfortunately we do not have that technology,” the judge told the audience which included four uniformed police officers including Hermann Chief Marlon Walker and Gerald Chief Jim Helton.

Ken Heineman with the Public Defenders Office in Union, was standing in for Simpson’s public defender of record, Jeffrey M. Shellenbergar, who was unable to attend the hearing due to a family matter.