Ritenour will face trial in Lee County

Alicia Ritenour

Alicia Ritenour

Oskaloosa- Approximately one week after hearing arguments on whether or not to move trial, Judge Myron Gookin has decided that an Oskaloosa mother facing murder charges cannot receive a fair retrial in Mahaska County. Gookin ruled that Alicia Ritenour’s request for a change of venue should be granted, in large part because of pre-trial publicity.

Gookin noted that the Ritneour case has an extensive history in Mahaska County. Ritenour was arrested in January 2014 and charged with the murder of her two-year-old child, Ava. In November of that year, Ritenour was convicted by a Mahaska County jury of one count of first-degree murder and one count of child endangerment resulting in death. Four years later, Ritenour filed a motion for post-conviction relief, and an extensive bench trial was held alleging that her trial counsel was ineffective. Ritenour’s conviction was overturned in December 2018. Gookin wrote that in each of these proceedings, there has been much coverage by the news media.

“All of these proceedings have resulted in press coverage in Oskaloosa, Mahaska County, and the surrounding area. Media sources are no longer limited to a local newspaper and radio station,” he wrote.

Social media has also presented a unique challenge for Ritenour to receive a fair trial, according to Gookin.

“In this electronic age of social media, there are many more sources of information, accurate or inaccurate, that spread ‘news’ of criminal proceedings. In this case, the media reports of all proceedings have been extensive and pervasive. Where comments may be posted in response to such reports, there are many responsive posts that presume guilt of the Defendant or, at the least, have very strong, unfavorable opinions against the Defendant,” he wrote.

In his ruling, Gookin also wrote that Ritenour’s defense team would be prejudiced by a Mahaska County jury pool, due to the prior conviction. He wrote that generally, information regarding a prior overturned conviction would not be presented to jurors. However, with the amount of knowledge of the case in Mahaska County, if the trial was not moved, Ritenour’s defense attorneys would be required to question potential jurors on their knowledge of the prior verdict, possibly compromising her defense.

“In essence, the Defendant would have to concede the previous guilty verdicts against her in trying to pick a new jury. Despite instructions by the court otherwise, the risk is substantial the presumption of innocence in favor of the Defendant would evaporate, even before presentation of evidence commences in the retrial,” Gookin wrote. “Under the circumstances presented, no matter how well intended and attentive to the court’s instructions the Mahaska County jury pool may be, the court finds there is a substantial likelihood a fair and impartial retrial cannot be preserved with a jury selected from Mahaska County,” he added.

In granting Ritenour’s request for a change of venue, Gookin also set a new location for the trial. While acknowledging that it may be a hardship for most participants in the trial, Gookin moved the trial to Keokuk, in Lee County- a nearly two-hour drive from Oskaloosa.

Ritenour’s trial is still set to begin on August 13 at 9 am.

Posted by on Mar 26 2019. Filed under Local News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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