ANDERSON, Ind. — Efforts are still underway to determine if the man accused of killing Elwood police officer Noah Shahnavaz will face the death penalty.

Madison County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Hopper ruled during a pretrial conference this week that he is still looking for a specialist to determine if Carl Roy Webb Boards II, who is accused of shooting Shanavaz 36 times during an attempted traffic stop on July 31, has an intellectual disability.

Board’s defense had previously requested additional time for him to review the case before it heads to trial in two years. Boards faces felony charges of murder and resisting law enforcement for his alleged role in the death of Shanavaz in July of 2022.

During the pretrial conference on Tuesday, Judge Hopper ruled that Boards would be granted to spend up to 12 hours a week in the law library at the Miami Correctional Facility to review digitized data related to his case. He will also be permitted to keep written court documents in his cell as well.

However, Boards is only permitted to review autopsy photographs of Shahnavaz within the law library as the judge ruled against the photos being allowed to exit the law library.

The ruling relates to ongoing efforts by the court to determine if Boards has an intellectual disability. If Boards is found to be intellectually disabled, that would result in the death penalty being removed from the case. It is illegal under Indiana law for anyone diagnosed with an intellectual disability to face the death penalty.

According to previous reports, defense attorneys for Boards filed a petition on July 13 requesting that their client’s mental status needed “extensive testing.”

Additionally, Boards is allowed to access the law library for a minimum of three to four-hour daily sessions per week, according to the pretrial hearing.

Hopper also rejected a motion filed by Board’s defense to allow him to appear in regular handcuffs rather than security shackles that are commonly used by the Indiana Department of Correction when transporting high-risk inmates.

The next court hearing is scheduled to begin on Nov. 6 and the trial is set for Jan. 13, 2025.