Dressed in his jail stripes and black crocs, Daniel Messel appeared in court in person for the first time Wednesday.
He was there to hear whether or not Brown County Circuit Court Judge Judith Stewart would grant him a change of venue.
Stewart, however, did not take a ruling and instead said she will take the motion under advisement.
A written order will be out quickly, Stewart said, which should detail if a change of venue is granted and how the change will take place.
Messel’s defense attorney Dorie Maryan filed for the change of venue to decrease the chances of an unfair trial. Messel is charged with the murder of IU senior Hannah Wilson, who disappeared the evening of April 23. Her body was discovered near Needmore, Indiana around 8:30 a.m. the next day.
Maryan said she believes the jury pool will be prejudiced against Messel because of the case’s media coverage.
Maryan brought three exhibits of media compilations, which she said she believes will lead to a partial jury.
The concern with the first compilation was the connection many media outlets made between Daniel Messel and the Lauren Spierer case.
“I admit I have no evidence that the jury pool has been affected,” Maryan said. “But I cannot conceive of a way that the mention of Daniel Messel next to Lauren Spierer ... is not ?prejudicial.”
Maryan said she believes the media has the right to cover the case, but in regards to connecting Messel and Spierer and reporting on Messel’s criminal history, some news outlets have jumped to speculation.
Additionally, she said the statement from the Bloomington Police Department suggesting a new investigation into Messel and Spierer connections corroborates the speculation further.
“There is no question this media presentation is prejudicial,” Maryan said.
Maryan also explained to the court the connections made by the media between the death and disappearance of Jill Behrman were also concerning and ?prejudicial and in some cases proven completely inaccurate in her second exhibit.
Finally, she explained media coverage of Messel’s past crimes would unfairly influence the jury and mentions of his violent past were examples of media ?sensationalism.
Chief Deputy Prosecutor James Roberts argued against a change of venue because it’s not a proper remedy to getting Messel a fair trial.
Roberts demonstrated how Brown County may be the best place for Messel to get a fair trial because of its limited media coverage. The county has only one ?weekly paper which has only printed four articles related to Messel and none presented assertions of guilt or speculation of other crimes, ?Roberts said.
Though Maryan explained media coverage online and from Indianapolis broadcast stations reaches those in Brown County, Roberts said media coverage is proliferated in any county the venue could change to.
“This case is going to generate publicity no matter where it is,” Roberts said. “Brown County is probably the best place for the defendant to get a fair trial.”
Roberts also explained how expensive changing a venue would be because the case has 20 to 30 witnesses to testify. He also said with the prosecutor’s office being small, moving the venue would overburden the office and prevent them from properly handling other criminal cases.
At the end of his argument, Roberts requested Stewart either deny the request or wait for jury selection to see if prejudice is present.
Stewart said she will consider the arguments and wait until a time closer to jury selection. She could make a ruling on the change of venue motion at any time.
