Can Paul DeBoer get a fair shake in Teton County?

DEVELOPING...

By GIL BRADY
The Cowboy-Picayune Sunny Times

Filed 5.15.07

JACKSON, Wyo. (CT) -- 9th Circuit Court Judge Timothy C. Day denied Monday defense motions to change trial venue to another county, merge charges and depose pre-trial witnesses -- setting the stage for controversial Game Creek resident Paul DeBoer's jury trial next month.

According to charging documents, DeBoer faces three counts of reckless endangerment and one count of reckless driving stemming from a showdown with mountain bikers last July near his home.

The issue of pre-trial publicity, including a Feb. 2007 editorial in the Jackson Hole News & Guide urging officials to get tougher with DeBoer, was raised by defense attorney Robert Horn Monday.

Horn argued that negative publicity toward the court and his client drummed up by the local press made getting a fair trial for DeBoer in Teton County impossible. Day ruled that the jury-selection process was the proper avenue to test whether local jurors could put aside their opinions on the case.

DeBoer faces a maximum of three and half years in jail and $750 in fines, or both, if convicted of the four misdemeanor charges. A courthouse clerk said late Monday DeBoer's trial would likely start around mid-June.