New trial sought in rape case

SANDPOINT — A Blanchard man convicted of kidnapping and raping an estranged girlfriend is seeking a new trial.

Joe Frederick Ransom’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Susie Jensen, contends juror misconduct denied her client’s right to a fair and impartial trial. The motion for the declaration of a mistrial is based on a report that one juror formed and expressed an opinion on Ransom’s guilt before the state had rested its case and before the defense had presented its own.

Throughout the three-day trial, 1st District Judge Barbara Buchanan admonished jurors not form to or voice an opinion of the case each time they were excused from the courtroom. Jurors were further instructed not to discuss the case amongst themselves prior to deliberations.

“We do believe that, at this point, the defendant was denied a fair and impartial trial,” Jensen said during a hearing on Friday.

Jensen called to the stand Kathi Malakowsky, whose father is a friend of Ransom’s. She told Buchanan that she was returning to the courthouse on the second day of the trial and recognized two jurors standing outside talking.

“I really, truly believed her. I really, truly believed her,” Malakowsky recalled one female juror remarking to another female juror.

The defense argued that the jurors were obviously discussing the testimony of the alleged victim in the case, who had taken the stand as a state’s witness that day.

Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall asked Malakowksy if the jurors could have been speaking about somebody else or even referencing national news accounts of women coming forward to accused Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump of sexual harassment.

Malakowsky allowed that it was possible jurors were discussing somebody other than the alleged victim. Malakowsky added, however, it was doubtful that was indeed the case.

Marshall filed a written objection to the defense motion arguing that Malakowsky’s motivation was suspect due to family’s connection with Ransom.

Marshall also pointed to case law which holds that a juror’s expression of an opinion does not rise to the level of misconduct that would trigger a new trial.

Buchanan took the arguments under advisement and said she would enter a written order on the motion prior to Ransom’s sentencing hearing, which is scheduled for Dec. 12.

A jury of seven men and five women convicted Ransom on Oct. 14. The charges stemmed from an alleged attack Ransom perpetrated on the 51-year-old woman at her remote cabin near Spirit Lake on April 23. During the prolonged attack, the woman testified that Ransom said he had already planned her murder as retribution for dating another man after they broke up.

Ransom, 54, took the stand in his own defense and denied the allegations against him.