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Judge Mary Leahy didn’t receive all of the attorneys’ written arguments on the change of venue motion until halfway through a hearing Monday. Leahy blamed budget cuts and not enough people-power to get documents filed promptly. She said she would take the issue under advisement and issue an order today.
Nissalke, 43, is charged with assault with a dangerous weapon, obstruction and terroristic threats stemming from an incident outside his house in May last year. According to the criminal complaint, Niss-alke wielded a 63-inch long, 12-pound metal bar against police officers attempting to collect DNA evidence with a search warrant while investigating the 1985 murder of Ada Frances Senenfelder.
Nissalke’s attorney, Chuck Ramsay, asked the court for a change of venue Dec. 16, saying it would be difficult to find a pool of jurors in Winona who have not been tainted by local news coverage. Ramsay, a Twin Cities-based attorney, suggested the trial be moved to Red Wing, Minn.
He summarized his arguments Monday and indicated that he submitted articles published in the Winona Daily News as evidence that prosecutors and police officers had made unfair, prejudicial statements about his client. He quoted a July 3, 2008, article in which Winona County Attorney Chuck MacLean commented on the status of Winona’s only unsolved murder: “It’s not unsolved anymore. ... The grand jury did a wonderful job.”
Ramsay also said there is a certain “community sentiment” regarding his client and used an online comment from a reader on the Daily News Web site as an example: “I hope he fries.”
Assistant Winona County Attorney Tom Gort argued then that a change of venue wouldn’t be necessary, saying “tainted” jurors could be weeded out with a joint questionnaire. He defended local media coverage as being factual and said that even if the trial were moved, citizens in other communities could just as easily research Nissalke’s case on the Internet.
Nissalke’s trial is currently scheduled to begin Monday in Winona.
