He's charged with the June 2025 murder of Allen Cogswell in Elkhart. Stanley attended his status conference in-person which allowed him to see his family members in the gallery. Elkhart Circuit Court Judge Michael Christofeno did not yet rule on the State's Motion in Limine, or request to prohibit evidence from trial.

Prosecutors want to prohibit evidence that could invite the jury to decide the case on sympathy, bias, personal feelings, or disagreement with the law, rather than deciding the case based on the law. That would be what's called "jury nullification."

Also, they want to prohibit any mention of the victim, Allen Cogswell's, prior conviction of child molesting against one of Stanley's young relatives, stating, "The defendant cannot use the victim's past criminal conduct to suggest the victim 'deserved' the charged murder or to justify the defendant's actions."

However, Stanley's public defender argued the prior conviction could be evidence of a "sudden heat" defense argument.

"Sudden heat" is a mitigating legal factor that could reduce a murder charge to voluntary manslaughter, because the rage or terror felt by the perpetrator is enough to obscure the reason of an ordinary man.

And, while a jury must follow a judge's instructions, it was argued that the jury ultimately decides the facts and the law of a case.

Again, the judge took everything under advisement and will rule on the motion before Stanley's final trial status conference.

Before he left the courtroom, Stanley turned toward his family and said he loved them. His next court appearance is set for July 15. His trial is still set to begin Sept. 21.