DARLINGTON - The trial of an Argyle man charged in the deaths of his three children will be held in Lafayette County, not Green County as his defense attorney requested.
In court Thursday, Dec. 27, Judge Thomas Vale sided with the prosecutors and denied the request to hold the trial of Armin Wand III at the Green County Justice Center in Monroe. The trial is set for Feb. 25 to March 1.
A jury will be brought in from a county outside the Madison media market for the trial, after Wand's defense successfully argued earlier this month that publicity of the case was tainting the jury pool in the immediate region.
"We anticipate picking a jury Friday, Feb. 22," Vale said. "We are in the process of finalizing these arrangements."
Vale said he won't be disclosing the name of the county until after the people selected to be on the jury have been notified. A jury questionnaire is scheduled to go out the second or third week of January.
Wand, 33, stood mute - effectively pleading not guilty - earlier this month to the homicide and arson charges against him. Investigators say he set a fire at his rental home on Oak Street in Argyle on Sept. 7 in a plot to kill his four children and pregnant wife to collect on their life insurance. His three sons, ages 7, 5 and 3, all died. His wife survived but later lost the baby she was carrying. Their 2-year-old daughter also survived.
Wand's brother, Jeremy Wand, 18, faces similar charges for allegations that he helped set the fire. He also pleaded not guilty earlier this month, but a trial is not yet set in his case.
Guy Taylor, the public defender representing the older brother, argued in a motion that Green County's courtrooms in Monroe are bigger and better equipped to handle a jury trial. Monroe has "more varied" hotel and dining options, he wrote, and is altogether more convenient for witnesses and others involved in the trial.
He also pointed out that Monroe is the same distance from Argyle as Darlington.
Assistant Attorneys General Roy Korte and Richard DuFour shot down Taylor's motion.
"The defendant stands accused of horrible crimes committed in the county. The citizens of the county, who are paying for the costs of the trial, are entitled to have the trial held in the county," Korte and DuFour wrote in a response, adding that "due to unique security arrangements," Wand could not be housed in the Green County Jail and would have to be transported daily from the Lafayette County Jail in Darlington, a 30-mile trip each way "on winter roads."
The lawyers also sparred in a series of other motions. Taylor accused the prosecutors of "shrugging" their obligation to provide him discovery documents, the information they're using to build the case against Wand.
In another motion, the prosecutors blew off Taylor's request to suppress Wand's statements to law enforcement because it was a "boilerplate" motion so void of specifics they couldn't properly respond.
Both sides have settled their differences for now on these motions and walked into court Thursday joking with one another.
Taylor agreed to rewrite and resubmit his motion to suppress Wand's statements. He maintains that Wand's admission to the crimes was not freely given when officers interviewed him in the days after the fire.
"Our focus in on voluntariness," said Taylor, who was joined for the first time in court by a co-counsel, Janesville attorney Jason Daane. The addition was made after Wand asked for a new lawyer because he and Taylor weren't "getting along." Vale approved the addition as a compromise.
Taylor told the judge Thursday the prosecutors are working in good faith to get him all the discovery documents related to the case.
According to court records from the prosecutors, the written discovery in the case involves more than 4,600 pages of documents, including the educational records of the Wand children, their autopsy reports, numerous police records and "the report of the (federal) electrical engineer relating to the non-involvement of the electrical components in the cause of the fire."
The rental house that burned, located at 402 Oak St., has since been leveled. For months it stood charred and fenced off, but on Thursday morning all that remained on the property was the detached garage in the backyard and a "For Sale By Owner" sign out front.
Owner Tom Zwicker, Monroe, confirmed Thursday he is in the process of selling it. He said the house was torn down on Dec. 13. The property went up for sale two days later. Despite the property's association to the fatal fire and criminal cases, Zwicker said he's "had about 19 calls on it" in less than two weeks and met with a prospective buyer Wednesday.
"I think I've got it sold," Zwicker said. He said it's been a "wicked four months" since the fire, and he's looking forward to getting some closure.
In court Thursday, Dec. 27, Judge Thomas Vale sided with the prosecutors and denied the request to hold the trial of Armin Wand III at the Green County Justice Center in Monroe. The trial is set for Feb. 25 to March 1.
A jury will be brought in from a county outside the Madison media market for the trial, after Wand's defense successfully argued earlier this month that publicity of the case was tainting the jury pool in the immediate region.
"We anticipate picking a jury Friday, Feb. 22," Vale said. "We are in the process of finalizing these arrangements."
Vale said he won't be disclosing the name of the county until after the people selected to be on the jury have been notified. A jury questionnaire is scheduled to go out the second or third week of January.
Wand, 33, stood mute - effectively pleading not guilty - earlier this month to the homicide and arson charges against him. Investigators say he set a fire at his rental home on Oak Street in Argyle on Sept. 7 in a plot to kill his four children and pregnant wife to collect on their life insurance. His three sons, ages 7, 5 and 3, all died. His wife survived but later lost the baby she was carrying. Their 2-year-old daughter also survived.
Wand's brother, Jeremy Wand, 18, faces similar charges for allegations that he helped set the fire. He also pleaded not guilty earlier this month, but a trial is not yet set in his case.
Guy Taylor, the public defender representing the older brother, argued in a motion that Green County's courtrooms in Monroe are bigger and better equipped to handle a jury trial. Monroe has "more varied" hotel and dining options, he wrote, and is altogether more convenient for witnesses and others involved in the trial.
He also pointed out that Monroe is the same distance from Argyle as Darlington.
Assistant Attorneys General Roy Korte and Richard DuFour shot down Taylor's motion.
"The defendant stands accused of horrible crimes committed in the county. The citizens of the county, who are paying for the costs of the trial, are entitled to have the trial held in the county," Korte and DuFour wrote in a response, adding that "due to unique security arrangements," Wand could not be housed in the Green County Jail and would have to be transported daily from the Lafayette County Jail in Darlington, a 30-mile trip each way "on winter roads."
The lawyers also sparred in a series of other motions. Taylor accused the prosecutors of "shrugging" their obligation to provide him discovery documents, the information they're using to build the case against Wand.
In another motion, the prosecutors blew off Taylor's request to suppress Wand's statements to law enforcement because it was a "boilerplate" motion so void of specifics they couldn't properly respond.
Both sides have settled their differences for now on these motions and walked into court Thursday joking with one another.
Taylor agreed to rewrite and resubmit his motion to suppress Wand's statements. He maintains that Wand's admission to the crimes was not freely given when officers interviewed him in the days after the fire.
"Our focus in on voluntariness," said Taylor, who was joined for the first time in court by a co-counsel, Janesville attorney Jason Daane. The addition was made after Wand asked for a new lawyer because he and Taylor weren't "getting along." Vale approved the addition as a compromise.
Taylor told the judge Thursday the prosecutors are working in good faith to get him all the discovery documents related to the case.
According to court records from the prosecutors, the written discovery in the case involves more than 4,600 pages of documents, including the educational records of the Wand children, their autopsy reports, numerous police records and "the report of the (federal) electrical engineer relating to the non-involvement of the electrical components in the cause of the fire."
The rental house that burned, located at 402 Oak St., has since been leveled. For months it stood charred and fenced off, but on Thursday morning all that remained on the property was the detached garage in the backyard and a "For Sale By Owner" sign out front.
Owner Tom Zwicker, Monroe, confirmed Thursday he is in the process of selling it. He said the house was torn down on Dec. 13. The property went up for sale two days later. Despite the property's association to the fatal fire and criminal cases, Zwicker said he's "had about 19 calls on it" in less than two weeks and met with a prospective buyer Wednesday.
"I think I've got it sold," Zwicker said. He said it's been a "wicked four months" since the fire, and he's looking forward to getting some closure.