BELLEVILLE, Ill. (AP) - A judge in southwestern Illinois has rejected a murder defendant’s bid to throw out the case accusing him of fatally shooting a village’s mayor.

St. Clair County Circuit Judge Milton Wharton last month declared a mistrial in the first-degree murder proceedings involving Aaron Jackson.

That decision came after a key witness changed her testimony about whether or not she talked to an investigator at the scene of the 2010 killing of Washington Park Mayor John Thornton Sr. She also claimed the investigator offered her a bribe.

Jackson’s attorney argued Tuesday that the charge should be thrown out because witnesses have been discredited. But Wharton ruled that issues of credibility are things a jury should decide.

Jackson has pleaded not guilty.

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