VanWeelden Has Hearing Over Possible New Trial

Judge Paul Miller heard from both the defense and prosecution concerning a possible new trial for Willie VanWeelden

Oskaloosa, Iowa – The prosecution and defense were once again before Judge Paul Miller over a motion by the defense for a new trial or to have an arrest of judgement.

VanWeelden’s attorney Matt Moore filed the paperwork back at the end of March. (Story HERE) Much of the defense testimony Monday is found in the affidavit copied in that story.

The hearing started at 10 am in the Mahaska County courtroom to a near capacity crowd. There the motions of the brief asking for the new trial were covered by the defense. The discovery of a DVD that had recently come to light as well as accusations of misconduct on the part of some of the states witnesses are part of the defenses case.

During the portion of the hearing where both sides were able to present case history to the judge, both for and against having a new trial, Defense Attorney Matt Moore stated, “The last part of the test, is whether or not the new material evidence would have had a change in the result of the trial. In this 9 minute segment [discovered DVD], I represent to the court, I find it completely exculpatory. It completely would have impacted the jury outcome. We spent 5 days fussing in this courtroom in January on whether re-elected equaled newly-elected under the plan.”

During the hearing, Moore turned towards Greg Gordy and Lawrence Rouw who were seated in the courtroom. “So we don’t think there’s any doubt that Rouw’s statement on the video would have changed the outcome of this trial. And another thing it would have done, is it would have demonstrated to this jury the nature and extent that Greg Gordy knew, without question, that Bonnie VanWeelden was being discussed and possibly already on the Mahaska County health insurance plan, instead of him maintaining a position that, in light of the video tape is ludicrous, throughout the trial that he didn’t know until December of 2009 that she was even mentioned or part of being on the plan. It was he as chairman that tabled the entire issue so that he could do more research and investigation. So, at minimum, it shows his malfeasance as chairman.”

State Assistant Attorney General Becky Goettsch stated in her rebuttal about the standard set for retrial. “It’s a high standard, and the reason for that is because in our system of justice, we trust the jury’s verdict. We don’t go and second guess them, we don’t get do-overs, we don’t say well I wish I could have done this different.”

“The tape, from my review of it, is anything but exonerating. It’s not exculpatory. It appears to me there’s a lot of confusion going on. When the newly elected versus re-elected discussion is said, Lawrence Rouw says, ‘Well I guess’ and there’s a lot of well, ‘I don’t know what happens’. Go get the procedures. Aren’t there procedures for this? It looks like a lot of confusion to me. One could also say that Mr. VanWeelden is sitting there saying, ‘Well I didn’t know this was coming up’.”

A ruling on the matter will come down from Judge Paul Miller in the coming weeks, if VanWeelden will once again be back in court or if the jury’s verdict stands.

Past stories covering this topic:

• VanWeelden Attorney Files Motion For New Trial
• Disbelief And Shock Used To Describe Verdict
• Defense Offers Withering Cross Examination Of DCI Investigator
• Mahaska County Auditor Calls Investigation “A Big Mess”
• Update On Second Full Day Of VanWeelden Trial
• A Full Deck Of Supervisors Highlight A Prickly Day Of Testimony
• Former County Supervisor Spends Morning On Stand
• Jury Seated And Opening Statements Heard In VanWeelden Trial