Howard’s murder trial to stay here

• Image

Talk about it

A Jamestown man’s murder trial scheduled for August will remain in Stutsman County, according to court documents.

Leron Lee Howard, 34, has pleaded not guilty to murder and criminal conspiracy in the death of Abdi Ali Ahmed, 18, Jamestown. Ahmed’s body was found April 30, 2011, in a road ditch near Spiritwood, N.D. He had been killed by blunt trauma to the head and also suffered stab wounds to the abdomen.

Judge Thomas E. Merrick denied a motion by Steve Mottinger, court-appointed defense attorney, to move the trial out of Jamestown because of pretrial publicity.

The motion was opposed by Fritz Fremgen, Stutsman County state’s attorney.

“Generally, the existence of prejudice can be adequately determined by voir dire examination of potential jurors,” Merrick wrote in denying the request.

Voir dire is the process of the court and attorneys questioning potential jurors about their knowledge of the case or any preconceived ideas they may have. The order allows the change of venue request to be renewed if the voir dire process reveals that it is impossible to seat a fair and impartial jury in Jamestown.

Merrick had earlier ordered the area from which jurors are drawn to be expanded beyond Stutsman County.

Janelle Cave, 22, Jamestown, a co-defendant in the case, was found guilty of manslaughter and criminal conspiracy in February. Cave was sentenced to 11 years in prison on the criminal conspiracy charge and eight years on the manslaughter charge, to be served concurrently. Part of her sentence includes her testifying against Howard at his trial.

Murder and criminal conspiracy are Class AA felonies punishable by a maximum of life imprisonment without parole.

Howard’s murder trial is scheduled for Aug. 14-24. He remains in the Stutsman County Correctional Center on a $450,000 bond.

Sun reporter Keith Norman can be reached at 701-952-8452 or by email at knorman@jamestownsun.com

Tags: local news, news, court