Associated Press Writer

By DAVE KOLPACKBy DAVE KOLPACK

FARGO - The public defender for a LaMoure County man accused of murder says it's difficult to work on the case when his client is 150 miles away.

Steve Allen Thomas, of Marion, has been charged in the death of his former neighbor, Norman Limesand, who disappeared in 1999. Thomas is jailed in Jamestown; his lawyer, Don Krassin, is in Wahpeton.

"I got assigned a very difficult case," Krassin said. "This makes it even more difficult."

The body of Limesand, 82, has not been found. Authorities said he and Thomas had argued about a water drainage problem near the farm house Thomas shared with his mother, Bonnie Rosland.

Krassin said he wants Thomas transferred to a Wahpeton jail. A status hearing in the case has been set for Jan. 26 in LaMoure.

"He's very frustrated," Krassin said of Thomas. "He would like to spend more face-to-face time discussing the case."

Krassin is the third court-appointed attorney for Thomas, who was arrested in August. The other two public defenders had conflicts, Krassin said.

"I've been doing this for a number of years. I'm somewhat used to it," Krassin said of the travel. "But it's extremely rare to get a homicide case, and I think it's fair to say this is a complicated case."

Robin Huseby, the director of a new state criminal defense agency, said Krassin's dilemma is not unusual.

"Travel is a problem in any rural state," said Huseby, who heads up the new Commission on Legal Counsel for Indigents. "But that's the type of question we need to address."

The state hires about 42 lawyers to handle court-appointed cases, some on a part-time basis, Huseby said. Public defenders receive a flat fee for their services, along with 10 percent of it to cover such overhead expenses as travel, she said.

Huseby's agency, started by the Legislature earlier this year, is considering whether to establish state public defender offices rather than contract with private attorneys. But that may not solve the geographical issue, she said.

"One of the main things we're going to look at is case load management," Huseby said. "Increasing the number of attorneys may certainly be on the horizon. We're adding one in Fargo right now."

Dennis Fisher, who was Thomas' attorney until he was arrested, said counties usually are unwilling to transfer prisoners because they have to pick up the tab.

"I'm afraid he'll be making a bunch of trips," Fisher said of Krassin. "This is one of those cases where a guy has to cut out all other business until this one gets done."

Limesand disappeared Nov. 12, 1999. His pickup was found four days later, parked along a street in Moorhead, Minn. Authorities said DNA tests showed that blood on the pickup belonged to Limesand.

Authorities said they also found traces of Limesand's blood and glasses on an approach to the farm where Thomas and Rosland lived.

Limesand was declared dead in 2002.

Rosland pleaded guilty to a charge of lying to a federal grand jury about her son's whereabouts, and served five months in a halfway house.

"This case is built on circumstantial evidence," Krassin said. "I don't know how it will all turn out."