Motion to move Fravel’s trial location retraces heavy media coverage, social media posts

By KAALTV

Fravel defense change of venue

(ABC 6 News) – Adam Fravel’s defense renewed its argument against holding the Madeline Kingsbury murder suspect’s trial in Winona County June 7.

Judge Nancy Buytendorp has not ruled on the arguments, but took all motions under advisement Monday, June 10.

According to a lengthy motion filed June 7, Fravel’s defense believes it is impossible to select an impartial jury from Winona County residents.

The motion reiterates many of the arguments Fravel’s defense made April 30, at a Winona County hearing regarding the potential move.

During the hearing, Fravel’s attorneys called several witnesses to testify about public exposure to the case, as well as a survey they conducted of Winona residents, many of which said they had already formed opinions about Fravel’s guilt or innocence based on heavy media coverage.

The motion filed June 7 details the SNG survey, and restates that of the Winona residents questioned of those who had seen or heard media coverage of Kingsbury’s murder and Fravel’s trial, many had formed a distinct opinion of who had caused the Winona mother’s death.

Of that slightly smaller subset, 98.5 had concluded that Fravel murdered Kingsbury.

“The State is also misguided in its argument that potential jurors may forget
the contents of early and more recent reporting,” the defense’s motion continues. “This is no longer a society where county and city residents might read an article in printed publication only to discard the publication after reading. This is society where news articles are posted online indefinitely and circulated on social media and via electronic correspondence, usually accompanied by comments and opinions. Whether fortunately or unfortunately, we are not in society where materials and publications are altogether forgettable.”

The defense further argued that Winona County Emergency Management’s inclusion of a “Justice for Maddi” hashtag in a domestic violence awareness post prejudiced the public against Fravel months before his arrest.

Prosecution’s argument against moving the trial

On May 29, the Winona County Attorney’s Office argued against moving the trial, claiming that impartiality and complete ignorance of the murder case are not the same thing.

Additionally, as the prosecution argued, there is no way to know how much trial coverage may have affected a potential juror’s opinion, and whether they are likely to remember the information if selected for a trial many months from now.

Additionally, any small prejudice a community member may have formed from seeing social media posts linking Fravel’s case and domestic violence prevention would be overshadowed by the knowledge that Fravel had, in fact, been indicted by a jury on 1st-degree murder, the motion read.

“”The Court can draw no conclusions as to the strength of the potential juror’s preexisting opinion, the willingness and ability of the potential juror to set aside any prior information or preconceived opinions, and a juror’s ability to judge the case based upon evidence presented at trial and instructions of the Court,” the prosecution’s motion read.

“Finally, if Defendant has remaining concerns regarding the fairness and impartiality of the jury upon thorough examination of potential jurors and the exercise of … protective measures,
there is nothing to prohibit the Court from entertaining a renewed motion by Defendant for a
change of venue based upon the inability to select a fair and impartial jury in the case,” the motion concluded.