–Jury selection will resume Tuesday morning in the First-Degree Murder trial of Kyle Lou Ricke at the Dickinson County Courthouse in Spirit Lake. Ricke is accused of killing Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram on September 13th of last year, and his trial has been moved to Dickinson County due to pretrial publicity.
Lawyers for the Prosecution and Defense took turns asking questions of potential jurors on Monday, but they were unable to finish questioning before the end of the day, so they will resume at 8:30AM.
Assistant Attorney General Scott Brown focused many of his questions on what the potential jurors had heard about the case prior to Monday, with more than one saying they had already formed an opinion about the guilt or innocence of the defendant. Many of those potential jurors were excused and replaced from the pool of over 100 Dickinson County residents.
Defense Attorney Barbara Westphal focused her questions on whether the potential jurors could keep a presumption of innocence for the defendant and only look at the evidence presented in the courtroom. She also asked about the interactions the potential jurors have had with law enforcement and whether or not they owned any firearms themselves.
Once a jury is seated, opening arguments will be held and the first witnesses called. The prosecution informed the potential jurors that they intend to call as many as ten witnesses, including the defendant’s mother.
