The capital murder trial of Justin Thurber won’t start in June as originally scheduled and Judge Jim Pringle will wait until July before getting an update on progress in the case.
Pringle Wednesday granted a defense motion seeking a continuance. The defense told the court more time was needed to prepare for the case. The delay was necessary, at least in part, because some physical evidence still needed to be tested.
“I would like to get this case going and over with,” Pringle said. But he added that he though it was “impractical at this time” to move ahead.
There are also some logistical issues to be solved so that the defense can obtain evidence from the prosecution in order to do some independent testing. Pringle granted the delay and said he would meet by phone with attorneys from both sides on July 8 to determine the status of the case.
Prosecutors have said they would like to be to trial by late October or early November. Thurber, 25, is charged with murder, kidnapping, rape and sodomy in the January 2007 death of Jodi Sanderholm.
Sanderholm’s family said they were disappointed by the delay but willing to wait to ensure that Thurber’s potential conviction is not overturned on appeal.
“We want it to go right,” Jodi’s mother, Cindy Sanderholm, said.
Pringle also opted to “take under advisement” a request by the defense to move Thurber’s trial out of Cowley County. He did not indicate when he might rule on the request.
This week’s hearing came to an end after the court heard from Dr. Pete Hamilton, a retired professor at Pittsburg State University. Hamilton was called upon to survey Cowley County residents and gauge their attitudes about the defendant.
Hamilton said that hundreds of local residents were polled as part of the survey. Of those, 92 percent said they were familiar with the case. Around 87 percent indicated they believed Thurber was guilty, to at least some degree, of the charges filed against him.
Hamilton, who was called to testify by the defense, said that moving the trial outside of the defendant’s home county was key to providing a fair trial. He dismissed the idea that jurors could truly agree to dismiss their bias or prejudices and give Thurber a fair shake.
He said asking jurors whether they could be fair was a waste of time because it was a “high-pressure question” that almost anyone would answer yes to regardless of their bias.
“It’s silly to even ask it,” he said. It’s not like someone would say “I’m so bias I couldn’t hear the evidence in this case fairly.”
Hamilton said media coverage and public opinion would get in the way of a fair trial in Cowley County. Tim Frieden, lead attorney for the defense, said the people of the county were good people but too involved personally to decide his client’s guilt.
“This isn’t the case for them,” he said.
Frieden said the media has already portrayed his client as a stalker.
Prosecutor Chris Smith disagreed the trial should be moved and said even with all the media coverage, a fair trial was possible. He said there is plenty of evidence no potential juror has had a chance to hear and pointed out that the law favors local proceedings.
“The law favors a trial taking place in the home venue,” he said.
