GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Prosecutors oppose Taylor Schabusiness’ request to move her murder trial out of Brown County.
Schabusiness, 25, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide, mutilating a corpse and third-degree sexual assault for allegedly attacking Shad Thyrion last year. She has pleaded not guilty and not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect. She is scheduled to stand trial July 21.
Christopher Froelich, Schabusiness’ attorney, filed a request last week to either move the trial out of Brown County, or pick the jury elsewhere and bring the panel back to Green Bay to hear the case.
“The pretrial publicity in this case and editorial comment – its quantity, frequency, prominence, content and details have so prejudiced the defendant’s right to secure a fair and impartial trial so as to require a change” in either the place of trial or jury source, Froelich wrote.
But in the state’s 12-page response, Deputy District Attorney Caleb Saunders argues an impartial jury can be found in Brown County.
“The State cannot dispute the publicity this case has received. But a case simply garnering heightened attention does not mean that Schabusiness cannot receive a fair trial in Brown County. The coverage has involved factual reporting of court proceedings and do not involve objectionable editorializing of the kind likely to impermissibly taint a jury. Furthermore, other mechanisms exist that will ensure Schabusiness gets a fair trial. These factors obviate the need to change the venue of the trial or to select a jury panel from outside Brown County,” Saunders wrote.
As for the content of the coverage, “most of the articles contain straightforward, factual, and uneditorialized accounts of various routine court proceedings that have occurred in this case. None of these articles constitute the type of “inflammatory” publicity that courts guard against,” Saunders argued.
He also suggests finding a jury anywhere in the state could pose the same issues as in Brown County, given the coverage statewide and nationally.
“Moreover, the publicity Schabusiness cites is not confined to the borders of Brown County. It is an unfortunate reality that there has been heightened interest in this case. There is no knowing where the Court would find a “county where an impartial trial can be had,” given the breadth of attention the case received. Schabusiness’ own articles illustrate this point,” Saunders contended.
Saunders conceded that coverage of Schabusiness’ attack on her previous attorney may be concerning, noting evidence of that Feb. 14 incident won’t be admitted at trial, but believes that will be far enough removed from jury selection to make a significant impact.
To help screen jurors, the state would not object to special questionnaires being sent to prospective jurors about their media consumption of the case.
A motions hearing is scheduled for April 19.
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