Moodys win bid to move trial
Moodys win bid to move trial
April 17, 2007
Mike Fletcher
Kokomo Tribune
A Greentown couple charged with neglecting their adoptive children will not be tried in Howard County.
Michael Bolinger, attorney for both Jay and Teresa Moody, was recently granted a change of venue in the case due to pretrial publicity in newspapers and on TV, according to court records.
A location for the trial has not been decided.
The case made statewide headlines and gained TV coverage last March when state police arrested the couple on two Class D felony charges of neglect.
Detectives claim the couple were confining their adoptive children -- an 11-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter -- in a wire cage and denying the children food, according to court records.
The couple were scheduled to stand trial in Howard County on the charges May 23.
Bolinger said the publicity made it impossible for the Moodys to receive a fair and impartial jury in the Howard County area and requested a change of venue.
Bolinger filed the motion last month stating that bias and prejudice exists against the couple because of the publicity.
The Kokomo Tribune has published articles and photos of the couple about the case each time legal action occurred in the case, including when a plea bargain was recommended then thrown out by Judge Lynn Murray, Bolinger said in the motion.
Bolinger also cited a Channel 18 broadcast about the case as an example of the pretrial publicity.
A March 4, 2007, article in the Indianapolis Star, which Bolinger stated was inaccurate, was the "straw that broke the camel's back," Bolinger said Tuesday of requesting the motion.
According to Bolinger, the article in the Star with the headline "For Love or Money" "attempts to slander the Moodys by implying that they were in the adoption business, which is factually untrue." Since McCann and Bolinger could not agree on a venue in open court, a surrounding county will be chosen for the trial.
Bolinger on Friday struck Grant County.
On Tuesday, Chief Deputy Prosecutor Mark McCann struck Carroll County from the list leaving Cass, Clinton, Miami and Tipton as possible venues.
In December, a plea deal recommended in the case, which would have given them probation and no jail time, was denied by Judge Murray setting the stage for a trial.
If convicted of the D felonies, the couple could serve up to four years in prison for each offense.
Both were released from jail in March 2006 after posting $500, 10 percent of their $5,000 bail.
Mike Fletcher may be reached at (765) 454-8565 or via e-mail at mike.fletcher@kokomotribune.com