Missoula attorneys still want venue change
MISSOULA (AP) — Attorneys for a Missoula man charged with shooting into his garage and killing a German exchange student are making a second effort to move the trial out of Missoula County.
Lawyers for Markus Kaarma argued in a Sept. 4 motion that news coverage of the April 27 shooting death of 17-year-old Diren Dede has been rife “with factual inaccuracies” that will prevent their client from getting a fair trial without a change of venue.
Kaarma’s defense team made a similar motion in July, but District Judge Ed McLean rejected it last month, saying the news coverage in the case had, for the most part, been factual in nature.
The defense disagrees. It argues newspaper stories have minimized the fact that Dede was committing a crime by being in Kaarma’s garage and that stories portrayed Kaarma as a drug user and alleged that he and his wife had baited would-be burglars.
“Words are important, and the words that have been repeatedly chosen to portray Markus and his defense have been inflammatory,” defense attorneys wrote. “The news media has engaged in editorializing about the allegations against Markus; a change of venue is appropriate.”
Prosecutors allege Kaarma was angry about two earlier burglaries, including one in which marijuana was taken from his garage. Kaarma and his wife set up surveillance cameras in the garage, left a purse out and left the door partially open, charging documents state. A woman who works at a hair salon told investigators that Kaarma had been in three days before the shooting and said he had been waiting up to shoot someone because of previous burglaries, court records state.
Charging documents allege that when Kaarma spotted someone in his garage via the surveillance camera he went outside and fired four shots into his darkened garage, striking Dede twice.
If McLean isn’t inclined to change the venue, the defense offers other alternatives such as keeping Kaarma’s trial in the 4th Judicial District, but holding it in Superior, or bringing a Mineral County jury to Missoula to hear the case.
Another option the defense suggests is to survey members of the jury pool to determine whether prejudice against Kaarma exists in Missoula County.
Kaarma’s trial is set for December.