Murder trial moved to Wallace

GRANGEVILLE, Idaho – A judge has agreed to move to a North Idaho courtroom the second trial of Mark Lankford, who was convicted and sentenced to death 23 years ago for his role in the beating death of a Texas couple.

In a ruling issued Thursday, 2nd District Judge John Bradbury moved the trial from Grangeville to Wallace, in Shoshone County in Idaho’s panhandle. Bradbury cited extensive pretrial publicity about Lankford’s case and preconceived notions about the case identified in a survey of potential jurors.

Lankford, 51, was granted a new trial earlier this year when the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled he must be either retried or released because of an error in jury instructions during his 1984 trial.

He and his brother, Bryan, were convicted in the 1983 beating deaths of U.S. Marine Capt. Robert Bravence, 27, and his wife, Cheryl, 25, who were vacationing in Idaho. At the time, Mark and Bryan Lankford were camping in the Idaho wilderness.

Mark Lankford was sentenced to death. Bryan Lankford is serving a life sentence.

Mark Lankford was released from death row in October and has been held in the Idaho County Jail on $5 million bond since.

Last month, defense attorney Charles Kovis filed a motion to have Lankford’s second trial moved. Kovis argued that extensive media coverage of Lankford’s second trial has tainted the jury pool in Idaho County.

Bradbury agreed that coverage in local and regional newspapers has been heavy, but said reports were generally factual. The judge also cited questionnaires mailed to 300 potential jurors, with about half responding they had already drawn conclusions about Lankford’s guilt.

“Although many persons may passionately believe the prior verdict was fair, the touchstone question here is not the potential jurors’ belief about the fairness of the prior trial,” Bradbury wrote. “Instead, the question is whether the jurors can be impartial fact-finders in a new trial. Being impartial may require the jurors to put aside any feelings they might have that the prior trial was fair.”

For now, Lankford’s trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 4.