LAFAYETTE, IN — Amanda Milsap’s trial on charges of bribery, obstruction of justice and violating a no-contact order related to the shootings of a judge and his wife will be next month in Tippecanoe County.
Whether the jury will be made of Tippecanoe County residents remains up in the air.
Special Judge Lisa Swaim ruled that she was not persuaded by arguments from Milsap’s attorney, Earl McCoy, that the trial needed to be moved to another county.
Most of the media coverage cited as a reason for a change of venue focused on Thomas Moss, Raylen Ferguson, Nevaeh Bell and Blake Smith, who are the four people accused of conspiring to murder Judge Steven Meyer, his wife, Kimberly, and a witness in Pennsylvania.
Swaim bumped the trial start date from April 8 to April 6.
On April 6, attorneys will attempt to select 16 jurors from Tippecanoe County, Swaim said. But Cass County jurors might be the back-up plan.
“For me, I’d like to see how the voir dire goes,” Swaim said of the questioning of potential jurors. “If we find it is not possible to get a Tippecanoe County jury, then we will have Cass County jurors ready to go.”
If they a Tippecanoe County jury is seated, the trial begins April 7. If they seat a jury from Cass County, the trial begins April 8.
Milsap, 45, of Lafayette, is a peripheral defendant in the Jan. 18 shooting of the Meyers. The shooting garnered so much media attention that McCoy motioned for a change of venue.
Prosecutors say Milsap offered a bribe to a woman in Pennsylvania, who is the victim in Thomas Moss’ 2024 charges of domestic battery, intimidation and gun charges. Moss and Milsap used to be married and have a son together.
“The Vice Lords told me I should offer you $10,000 not to testify,” deputy prosecutor Cassidy Laux said of the Pennsylvania woman’s recent deposition as she described Milsap’s offer to the woman, who is a former girlfriend of Moss.
The four conspirators — Moss, Bell, who is Moss’ current girlfriend, Blake Smith and Raylen Ferguson — made plans to kill her in her Pennsylvania home after she rejected the offer, according to prosecutors.
Milsap was not involved in the alleged conspiracy to kill the woman in Pennsylvania or the Meyers, according to prosecutors.
The Meyers were shot at their front door on Jan. 18, allegedly by Ferguson.
The four accused conspirators are under orders to testify with immunity at Milsap’s trial.
Bell refused to give a sworn deposition Wednesday, and she appeared remotely Thursday with her attorney, Jay Hirschauer.
Prosecutors filed a petition for contempt of court, but Swaim instead issued an order Thursday compelling Bell to testify at the deposition and the trial.
Hirschauer explained that he advised Bell not to answer questions because the prosecutor’s evidence included a four-hour video of Bell being interviewed by police. Hirschauer could not get the audio to play, so Bell has not reviewed what she told officers in her January interviews.
McCoy offered Hirschauer a tip on how to play the audio, and a deposition is scheduled for March 30. Bell and Hirschauer did not indicate whether she would cooperate.
Meanwhile, a Thursday deposition with Ferguson hit a brick wall.
“He wasn’t going to answer any questions,” Laux said in court. “He’s just not going to cooperate.”
Deputy prosecutor Elyse Madigan said she will file a motion asking Swaim to compel Ferguson to testify. The court will take up that issue during a hearing March 31.
Moss’ attorney, Andrew Baldwin, said earlier this month that he will advise his client not to testify.
The balance of Thursday afternoon’s 90-minute hearing included going over what jurors will not be allowed to hear. Most of the prohibitions were standard for trials.
But jurors will hear about Moss’ criminal past because his 2024 charges were the reason for the alleged bribe in an effort to postpone his Jan. 20 trial.
Jurors will not hear about the alleged conspiracies to kill the witness or the Meyers.
Reach Ron Wilkins at rwilkins@jconline.com. Follow on Twitter: @RonWilkins2.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Bribery trial related to judge shooting to stay in Tippecanoe County
Reporting by Ron Wilkins, Lafayette Journal & Courier / Lafayette Journal & Courier
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