By Mike Fletcher
Howard Superior Court 1 Judge William Menges denied a change of venue motion Friday in the case against Jesse Harris Jr., who is charged with murder in the April 5, 2008, shooting death of Abby Rethlake.
The 18-year-old and her friend, Morgan Vetter, 18, were shot in Rethlake’s car at Meadowlawn Apartments, 1930 S. Goyer Road. Vetter survived the shooting as did a third person in the car, Mark Matthews.
Harris, 26, Chicago, is one of four men charged in the case.
His court-appointed attorney, Stephanie Doran, filed the motion to have the trial moved out of Howard County due to pretrial publicity from newspapers, radio stations and television news.
“The articles are inflammatory and sensationalizing, and are not factual reporting,” Doran said.
As evidence, Doran presented numerous recordings of radio stations’ reports about the crime and numerous articles from the Kokomo Tribune and Kokomo Perspective.
Doran argued that the articles would affect Harris’ ability to get a fair trial in Howard County. Doran called her lone witness, William Eldridge, one of the owners of the Kokomo Perspective, in an attempt to show that due to the amount of people who receive the weekly newspaper, there’s no way the court could find an unbiased jury.
In case Menges denied her request, Doran also suggested an alternative plan, to keep the trial in Kokomo and draw jurors from another county.
Howard County Prosecutor James Fleming argued that security would be a major concern when it comes to moving the trial to a smaller county and there’s no evidence to show how many people actually pay attention or believe media outlets.
“We just have to get 12 people in this box and ask them,” he said, pointing to the jury box.
In the end, Menges agreed with Fleming and denied the motion.
Another suspect in the April 5 shooting, Michael Yates, 26, Kokomo, also has filed a change of venue request. His hearing is set for Dec. 28.
Harris and Yates, along with Reggie Balentine, 32, Kokomo, and Launden Luckett, 22, Chicago, face felony charges in connection with the 2008 shooting that killed Rethlake, 18, and injured her friend, Vetter, 18.
All four have trial tentatively set for Feb. 19.
• Mike Fletcher is the Kokomo Tribune crime reporter. He can be reached at 765-454-8565 or mike.fletcher@kokomotribune.com.
