Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Gibbs assault trial postponed

Gibbs assault trial postponed

Aug 21, 2007 - 04:03:42 CDT

VALLEY CITY (AP) - A judge postponed the trial of former jailer Moe Gibbs on charges that he sexually assaulted five female inmates in the Barnes County jail, a decision that an assistant attorney general plans to challenge.

Gibbs, 35, had been scheduled to go on trial Sept. 17 in Valley City, a month before he faces his second trial on a charge that he killed Valley City State University student Mindy Morgenstern.

Southeast District Judge Mikal Simonson agreed to postpone the sexual assault trial until after Gibbs' murder trial, scheduled to begin Oct. 22 in Bismarck. Jurors deadlocked last month in Gibbs' first murder trial, which was held in Minot.

The sexual assault case "has always been the secondary trial to the murder trial," Simonson's order said.

"If this trial were to commence as scheduled, the publicity surrounding it may make it more difficult to have a fair murder trial," the judge wrote. "Neither party should gain evidence from this trial that may be used in the murder trial. Neither party would be prejudiced by a continuance of this trial."

Jonathan Byers, an assistant attorney general helping to prosecute both the murder and sexual assault cases, said he would ask Simonson to reconsider his decision.

Delaying the sexual assault trial will make it more difficult for prosecutors to convict Gibbs, Byers said. As the five alleged victims are released from jail, "they are a little harder to keep track of than a normal witness would be," Byers said.

Gibbs' attorney in the sexual assault cases, Ross Brandborg, of Fargo, called Simonson's ruling "fair and reasonable."

Simonson's order set no new trial date.

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Comments

currious 49 wrote on Aug 25, 2007 8:53 AM:

" the defendent having the right to a speedy trial, wouldn't that dismiss this case? "

Delay Tactics wrote on Aug 21, 2007 10:14 AM:

" I'm starting to suspect that we're being lead down a primrose path, and all of this deadlock, delayed trial, and moved trial stuff is just a delaying tactic to help Barnes county dodge a large settlement that is owed to the assaulted inmates. "

Pick me! wrote on Aug 21, 2007 9:57 AM:

" I could be fair and impartial, no problem. I know DNA can't lie, so this one's a slam dunk! "

Juror wrote on Aug 21, 2007 8:07 AM:

" Qute frankly, I am insulted when a judge says that I as a prospective juror cannot be impartial towards a defendant. Furthermore, when picking the jury, it is insulting and demeaning to deny a potential juror becuase the attorneys don't feel you can be impartial and rule justly. Are these judges and attorneys so prejudicial, unfair, and unyieldingly judgemental themselves that they don't believe the average citizen can be? "

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