Spokane7
65°
February 25, 2011 in Idaho
Judge denies change-of-venue request for Steele trial
A federal judge in Idaho has denied a request by defense lawyers to move a murder-for-hire trial to Wyoming.
While Edgar Steele’s case has received media attention, lawyers Robert McAllister and Gary Amendola have not shown that the area is “saturated” with prejudicial publicity about the alleged crimes, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill ruled today.
If the court decides during voir dire that finding an impartial jury in North Idaho is impossible, the trial will be moved to Pocatello or Boise, Winmill said.
Winmill said Steele did not provide basis for moving the trial beyond references to news organizations that have covered the case and “broad and speculative” allegations against staff at the Spokane County Jail, where Steele is in custody.
McAllister and Amendola, asking for the trial to be moved to Cheyenne, Wyo., said the release of recordings of Steele’s phone calls to his wife and son, which are the basis for a witness tampering charge against Steele, was assisted by the U.S. government or Spokane County Jail officials. The phone calls were actually made from the Kootenai County Jail.
The Spokesman-Review obtained the recordings after they were played in open court at Steele’s bail hearing last June.
Winmill said there is no way to determine whether jurors have listened to the tapes.
“There is also no indication that listening to the recordings or reading these articles have prejudiced prospective jurors,” Winmill wrote. “Defendant does not reference any specific articles which are particularly negative or inflammatory.”
Federal prosecutors objected to the request and said that “mere publicity is no basis on which to grant change of venue.”
Assistant U.S. Attorney Traci Whelan called a venue change in a federal case “unusual” and noted that while one was granted in the Oklahoma City bombing case, a change of venue request regarding the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case was denied.
Steele, a self-described “attorney for the damned” who defended the Aryan Nations, is accused of hiring a hitman turned FBI informant to kill his wife, Cyndi Steele. Prosecutors say he was involved with another woman overseas. In a prepared statement, Cyndi Steele says she knew of the woman, who she says was contacted by her husband as part of his ongoing legal work to stop human trafficking.
The trial is set to begin March 7.
Human trafficking suspects released 
HateIsEverywhere on February 26 at 3:03 p.m.
Reliable to a fault, Ms. Cuniff assures prejudicial saturation of the inland PNW with yet another “Aryan Nations” reminder. One wonders if Ms. Cuniff, the prosecution and - indeed - whatever judge is seated are “advised” as to what the desired outcome of Mr. Steele’s trial should be; advised by the SPLC and/or ADL (both which have a grudge against the defendant). The corrupt government and its various media tentacles are hungry to drive the message home to citizens at large that to speak one’s mind, to tell openly what is true may generate an FBI frame-up. In subtle fashion, what was once America a la “innocent until proven guilty” no longer exists. The fix is in; the paid cheerleaders relentlessly damn citizens they deem out-of-line. Read some commentary written by Mr. Steele and the dots in this obvious railroaded kangaroo court will connect themselves. Fellow citizen, when will they come for you?
CuriousChick on February 27 at 6:44 p.m.
Although this piece is similar in slant to all the other articles written on this case by Meghann Cuniff, it is worth noting that a press release was sent on February 19, 2011 to all the area news agencies and, rather than printing it, the last hot link citation in this latest Cuniff piece goes to this press release. At least the press release raises some very serious issues regarding how the FBI has treated Cyndi Steele and reveals that the government/prosecution is desperate now to prove a real motive by asking us taxpayers to fund a trip to the Ukraine to meet with the woman Edgar Steele was allegedly prepared to elope with, even though he was barely recovering from several serious surgeries. At this point, the prosecution must really be grasping at straws to make their case.