A federal judge plans to decide this week if the CIETC trial will be moved out of Des Moines. On Monday, lawyers for the four defendents in the case asked Judge Ronald Longstaff to move the trial. Defense attorney Bill Kutmus claims the extensive media coverage of the case will make it difficult to seat a fair jury in Des Moines.
Assistant U.S. Attorney William Purdy argued that just because people have heard about the case does not mean they can’t reach a fair conclusion. Judge Longstaff said he’ll issue a decision on the change of venue request sometime this week.
The four defendents are all charged with fraud and conspiracy stemming from millions of dollars in salaries and bonuses at the tax payer funded agency formerly known as the Central Iowa Employment and Training Consortium.