Speedy trial request brings second change of venue motion tied to plot to shoot judge
Attorney says coverage of Jan. 18 shooting too fresh for local jurors called for April trial. Plus, $10M solution found for Buck Creek/Colburn sewers. Two candidates up for LSC school board vacancy.
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SECOND CHANGE OF VENUE REQUESTED FOR ONE OF SIX NAMED IN CONNECTION WITH PLOT THAT LED TO SHOOTING OF JUDGE MEYER
A Lafayette mental health therapist, one of six people charged in connection with an alleged plot to shoot and kill Tippecanoe Superior 2 Judge Steve Meyer at his Lafayette home, is asking for a jury from outside Tippecanoe County as she faces a trial in April.
An attorney for Amanda Milsap, accused of bribery in what investigators say was part of a broader plot to sidetrack another suspect’s trial in Meyer’s court, pointed to extensive local coverage of the Jan. 18 shooting that injured Steve and Kim Meyer, along with the arrests, charges and initial hearings in the case.
Earl McCoy, a Lafayette attorney representing Milsap, said it would be difficult to find potential jurors in Tippecanoe County that already hadn’t made up their minds about allegations made in the prosecutor’s court filings, coupled with the prominent places in the community the Meyers hold.
McCoy also argued in a change of venue motion that appeared in court files Monday that Milsap’s move for a speedy trial – already set to start April 8 – complicates the chances of a fair trial with a local jury.
“The frequency and pervasiveness of the news reports about this incident are more significant in this because (Milsap) has decided to exercise her right to a speedy trial so there is little chance that potential jurors will have forgotten about the prejudicial and inadmissible facts contained in these news reports by the time they are asked to serve as jurors in this case,” McCoy argued in the motion.
McCoy noted that in a four-page probable cause affidavit that swept six people – four of whom have been charged with attempted murder and a dozen other counts – into one plot, Milsap shows up in one sentence, with the rest outlining activity “to which (she) has no connection.”
