Hearing on slaying trial closed

Judge weighs evidence admissibility in Jonesboro death

HARRISBURG — Attorneys argued in a closed Poinsett County Circuit Court on Monday to determine the admissibility of evidence against a Jonesboro woman charged in the August 2011 killing of her husband.

The hearing, which was held in Harrisburg because of a scheduling conflict by Circuit Judge Victor Hill, lasted about 30 minutes before Hill recessed for the day. The hearing will resume Wednesday.

Hill said he closed the hearing because evidence in question against Michelle Despain may not be admissible in her capital-murder trial. “If it [the evidence] was disclosed, it may have an impact on her right to get a fair trial,” Hill said while ushering spectators and reporters from the courtroom.

Despain is accused in the Aug. 24, 2011, slaying of her husband, Marc Despain, 34, at their Jonesboro home. She is charged with capital murder, but 2nd Judicial District Prosecuting Attorney Scott Ellington said he would not seek the death penalty against her.

Three others, including Michelle Despain’s father, Carl Kelley, have pleaded guilty in the slaying, and each has been sentenced to prison.

Attorneys also continued battling over Despain’s request to move her trial from Jonesboro to Marion. Despain’s attorneys, Ray Nickle and Bill Stanley, said they felt previous news accounts and comments on an Internet message board of the slaying along with Despain’s arrest and subsequent court hearings have hindered her chance of having a fair trial in Jonesboro.

“Due to the pretrial publicity … it has shifted the burden to the defense to prove her innocence,” Nickle said during his argument to Hill. “That is the very heart of a change of venue.”

Nickle also presented four witnesses, including a friend of Michelle Despain, who testified they felt she could not receive a fair trial in Jonesboro.

The attorney also cited an Internet site called Topix that allows anonymous posters to leave comments about the case. Many posts about the Despain case “painted a negative picture” of his client, Nickle said.

“The comments … formed a biased opinion of potential jurors before they know all the facts,” he said.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Mike Walden countered, saying defense attorneys presented no proof of the circulation of Topix and said that those who read comments on the site would recognize them merely as “gossip.”

He said potential jurors’ bias would be discovered during the voir dire process, when attorneys question potential jurors.

“It ’ s just publicity,” Walden said of the Internet postings. “A lot of people don’t believe what they read.”

Hill said he would make a ruling on whether to more the trial from Jonesboro sometime after Wednesday’s hearing.

No date for Despain’s capital-murder trial has been set yet.