Travis Stay, a former UND nursing student charged with murder, has rejected a plea agreement offered by prosecutors, removing any doubt his case will go to trial.
Tuesday was Stay's last chance to accept or decline the offer, the nature of which was not disclosed. An order prohibits any of the attorneys involved from speaking about the case.
During a pretrial hearing Tuesday, District Court Judge Joel Medd and attorneys discussed the status of a questionnaire to be answered by prospective jurors. Assistant State's Attorney Nancy Yon said the 38-page document so far contains 165 questions. Seven pages of the document list names of potential witnesses, she said. Medd said possible jurors may be excluded if they know any potential witnesses.
Also addressed were likely defense witnesses, including a pathologist, a blood-spatter expert and a doctor who examined Stay.
A final dispositional conference in the case is scheduled for Nov. 21, when the court and attorneys will sort out any lingering details before jury selection begins Dec. 2.
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Medd said in an e-mail that he will rule on the defense's request for change of venue after jury selection starts "to see then if a jury can be selected here in Grand Forks County without moving the case." The defense filed the motion last month, saying a glut of media coverage had made it impossible for Stay to receive a fair trial in Grand Forks.
Stay is accused of beating Joel Lovelien to death last year. Lovelien, 38, was celebrating Halloween with friends when he was attacked Oct. 27 in the parking lot of the Broken Drum bar.
