State v. Howard, 2013 ND 184

April 2011 body of Abdi Ali Ahmed found in Stutsman County with stab wounds and blunt head injury; autopsy attributed death to blunt head injury and abdominal stab wound.
Howard socialized with Ahmed at a Jamestown bar and left a house party with Cave and Ahmed in early morning of April 30.
Howard testified he struck Ahmed and dragged him after an altercation; he claimed he later helped Ahmed up and placed him in Cave's car.
Cave testified she saw Ahmed unconscious, Howard drag him, and later placed him in the car; Ahmed’s presence during the drive to Jones’s residence is disputed.
A sword was allegedly transported in Cave’s car; Jones testified Howard discussed placing a body in his well; the sword later surfaced in the riverbank in 2012.
Howard and Cave were charged with murder and criminal conspiracy; Cave was severed and tried separately; Howard’s trial occurred in August 2012.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether use of multi-county jury panel was properly preserved	State argues Howard failed to object	Howard preserved objection via amended motion for change of venue	Issue not preserved; no appellate review
Change of venue under NDCRIMP 21(a) challenged	Court should have transferred due to prejudice	District court properly denied; precautions used	Court did not abuse discretion; voir dire and multi-county panel adequate
Sufficiency of evidence to sustain murder and conspiracy convictions	Evidence supports convictions	Evidence insufficient	Convictions supported by substantial evidence

State v. Stridiron, 777 N.W.2d 892 (Nd. 2010) (precedent for change-of-venue discretion with pretrial publicity screening)
State v. Ellis, 625 N.W.2d 544 (Nd. 2001) (media publicity not automatically prejudicial; scrutiny of voir dire)
In re R.O., 631 N.W.2d 159 (Nd. 2001) (issues not raised in trial court generally not reviewed on appeal)
State v. Erickstad, 620 N.W.2d 136 (Nd. 2000) (burden to show pervasive prejudice; standard for change of venue)