Saturday, November 21, 2009
SIOUX FALLS: Neb. man asks to move trial because of publicity
WAYNE ORTMAN,Associated Press Writer
Published on Saturday, November 07, 2009
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A man facing a second trial for an 11-year-old killing wants it moved out of Union County in southeastern South Dakota because of publicity about the case.
James Strahl's attorney said news coverage in the past three years could prevent the seating of a fair and impartial jury in Elk Point. Attorney Phil Peterson of Beresford asked for the trial to be moved "to a county situated in a location that has received minimal media exposure to this case."
Strahl, 42, of Dakota City, Neb., was convicted in 2007 of murder in the 1998 killing of William O'Hare at his farmhouse near Beresford. The South Dakota Supreme Court later upheld Circuit Judge Steven Jensen's decision to grant Strahl a new trial after it was determined a prosecution witness, Aloysius Black Crow, had lied in an unrelated criminal case.
Strahl also was convicted of grand theft for stealing O'Hare's car and sentenced to 10 years in prison. That conviction stood because it was not based on Black Crow's testimony.
Jensen wants prospective jurors to complete a questionnaire about their knowledge of the case before he decides whether to move the retrial.
State prosecutors resisted the request to move the trial.
No trial date has been set.
Peterson said the "extensive media coverage" began in June 2006 with Strahl's arrest after a cold case investigation reopened the case.
Assistant Attorney General Patricia DeVaney said in court documents that she did not consider the media coverage inflammatory or anything but factual.
The defendant, many of the witnesses and the victim have few ties to the county, she said, and moving the trial would mean added cost and burden to Union County because many of the trial witnesses are from the nearby Sioux City, Iowa, area.
"Finally, because some of the publicity on this case has been statewide, the change of venue to another county could just as easily produce a jury pool exposed to the prior publicity in this case," DeVaney said.
"Thus, defendant is just as likely to receive a fair and impartial trial in Union County as in any other county in the state."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
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James Strahl's attorney said news coverage in the past three years could prevent the seating of a fair and impartial jury in Elk Point. Attorney Phil Peterson of Beresford asked for the trial to be moved "to a county situated in a location that has received minimal media exposure to this case."
Strahl, 42, of Dakota City, Neb., was convicted in 2007 of murder in the 1998 killing of William O'Hare at his farmhouse near Beresford. The South Dakota Supreme Court later upheld Circuit Judge Steven Jensen's decision to grant Strahl a new trial after it was determined a prosecution witness, Aloysius Black Crow, had lied in an unrelated criminal case.
Strahl also was convicted of grand theft for stealing O'Hare's car and sentenced to 10 years in prison. That conviction stood because it was not based on Black Crow's testimony.
Jensen wants prospective jurors to complete a questionnaire about their knowledge of the case before he decides whether to move the retrial.
State prosecutors resisted the request to move the trial.
No trial date has been set.
Peterson said the "extensive media coverage" began in June 2006 with Strahl's arrest after a cold case investigation reopened the case.
Assistant Attorney General Patricia DeVaney said in court documents that she did not consider the media coverage inflammatory or anything but factual.
The defendant, many of the witnesses and the victim have few ties to the county, she said, and moving the trial would mean added cost and burden to Union County because many of the trial witnesses are from the nearby Sioux City, Iowa, area.
"Finally, because some of the publicity on this case has been statewide, the change of venue to another county could just as easily produce a jury pool exposed to the prior publicity in this case," DeVaney said.
"Thus, defendant is just as likely to receive a fair and impartial trial in Union County as in any other county in the state."
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
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