An attorney says his high profile client -former workers' compensation director Sandy Blunt -won't receive a fair trial in Burleigh County due to media attention.

But the state's attorney's office says the attention has been extensive statewide, not only in Burleigh County.

That's just a taste of the two-month exchange of court briefs between attorney Michael Hoffman and the Burleigh County State's Attorney's Office since felony charges were reinstated against Blunt, former executive for the embattled Workforce Safety and Insurance, for allegedly misspending more than $18,000, split into a Class B felony and a Class C felony.

At the core of the arguments have been requests to transfer the case to Cass County and requests to deny amended information to the charges.

The amended information has to do with about $200,000 in alleged misspent funds, including $150,000 given to an organization in the form of a grant that may not have existed, payment of sick leave to a healthy person and failing to collect relocation expenses from an employee who quit early, according to briefs.

Hoffman has said this addition of evidence on Blunt's Class B felony, which initially included $11,484.29 of expenditures for gift certificates and other expenses, should not apply to current charges because Blunt was not fairly informed of this information when the charges were filed.

Assistant Burleigh County State's Attorney Lloyd Suhr said it's additional evidence in support of the claims and that another charge will not be filed.

There were two requests for transfer, citing an ad and stories in the Bismarck Tribune.

"It is reasonably foreseeable that the sensationalism in regard to defendant will only continue up to and including the time of his trial,"Hoffman wrote in his brief.

The ad used by the Bismarck Tribune featured a headshot of Blunt and a slogan about coverage of local news. The second brief cited several articles, written by Associated Press Writer Dale Wetzel, which were featured on the front page or on the Dakota front page in the Tribune.

Editor John Irby defended the ads and the Tribune's coverage.

"Idon't believe the ad was sensational, nor do I believe that we sensationalize news coverage,"he said.

Suhr said there's been similar coverage across the state.

"There really isn't any real argument that he's going to get any less fair trial here than elsewhere," Suhr said."He's going to get as fair of a trial here."

The trial is scheduled for Dec. 15 in front of South Central District Judge BruceRomanick; the charges are for two felony counts of misallocation of public funds, charges which were initially overturned in a preliminary hearing, where a judge decides if the case should go to trial. The North Dakota Supreme Court reversed that ruling and Blunt entered not guiltypleas to the charges in August.

(Reach reporter Crystal R. Reid at 250-8261 or crystal.reid@;bismarcktribune.com.)