Defense attorneys file for change of venue in Kasemeier First Degree Murder trial; Hearing slated for December 30
Brandon Kasemeier ...
As the calendar closes in on one month prior to the scheduled trial date in the First Degree Murder case of Brandon Kasemeier, the 40-year-old man from Waukon charged in the January 21 death of his estranged wife, Jami Kasemeier, the defense team for Kasemeier has filed a Motion for a Change of Venue in the case. That motion was filed late Friday, December 6 by Kasemeier’s defense team of Raya Dimitrova and Erin Carr of Carr Law Firm, P.L.C., Des Moines, citing “the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed…” guaranteed by the Constitutions of both the United States and the State of Iowa.
Within the Motion for Change of Venue, Kasemeier’s defense team expressed concerns with not being able to field a “fair and impartial trial,” citing legal references pertaining to how pretrial publicity warrants a change of venue when the defendant is able to show “publicity attending the trial that is so pervasive and inflammatory that prejudice must be presumed, or actual prejudice on the part of the jury.” In further outlining its case for requesting a change of venue, the defense team claims there has been “pervasive media coverage and publicity surrounding this case to such a degree that the defendant cannot get a fair trial in Allamakee County and the surrounding area.”
The motion further claims the case has “received saturated media attention in local newspapers,” generally naming The Standard Newspaper and the Decorah Leader, but providing further specifics of several different articles published by the Decorah Leader that the defense feels constitutes “pervasive and inflammatory” publicity. The defense team further claims that television news networks, noting KCCI out of Des Moines specifically, have “further contributed to the media saturation in Allamakee County,” as “these stories have been reproduced in video and textual format online.”
The 22-point motion filed by Kasemeier’s defense team cited further concerns with being able to field an impartial jury due to the “sparse population and rural character of Allamakee County,” suggesting that it is perhaps easier to saturate areas of lower population with media coverage and other publicity. The motion further cited statistics from the Iowa Department of Public Health noting only one report of murder in Allamakee County between January 2016 and December 2022, further stating that the Kasemeier case is “the second murder that occurred in this county in the last eight (8) years.”
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