Trial date set in Mindy Jones arson case

A review hearing scheduled for Monday, July 1 in Allamakee County District Court for a third attempt at setting a third trial date in the arson case against Mindy Jo Jones ended up not being formally needed, as legal counsel on each side of the case agreed to a trial date through phone conversations prior to Monday’s scheduled hearing time. That trial date has now been scheduled for Wednesday, February 26, 2025 with a pretrial conference having also been set for Monday, February 10, 2025, according to court documents.

Both of those dates are around a year past the  second trial date that had been set in the case for February 21 of this year, which was delayed after Jones had filed a waiver of speedy trial through her latest court-appointed public defender, Aaron Hawbaker of Waterloo. The original trial date of October 4, 2023 was also delayed after it was revealed that Jones “had no contact with counsel for several months and defendant made an oral request for new counsel,” according to court documents, with Hawbaker then being appointed as the fourth public defender Jones has had in the case.

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