Judge Refuses to Move Sjodin Trial
A federal court judge has again refused a motion for a change of venue in the trial of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. for the kidnapping and murder of college student Dru Sjodin, as jury selection continued into the fourth week. Attorneys have qualified 66 potential jurors for a final panel of 70 from which 12 will be chosen to hear the case.
For the second time, U.S. District Judge Ralph Erickson denied a motion by Rodriguez’s attorneys to move the trial to Minnesota, because they said questioning of the potential jurors revealed that he could not receive a fair trial in Fargo, North Dakota.
However, Judge Erickson said less than two percent of jurors qualified before the hearing have a “strong or fixed opinion” that Rodriguez is guilty. “This small number of people is insufficient to create a presumption of partiality,” Erickson said in his ruling.
Meanwhile, the judge also turned down a defense motion to exclude some of the DNA evidence collected and tested in the case. Defense attorneys argued that some of the samples were destroyed by testing at the crime lab and their experts did not get the opportunity to conduct their own tests.
Judge Erickson said in his ruling that he believed the testimony of forensic Scientist Ann Marie Gross, who said the samples were too small to cut. “She was actually in the position to view the evidence firsthand, and she has years of experience evaluating evidence from crime scenes,” .
