Jensen wants to move trial becauseDane County is full of Democrats

Will Rogers used to say that all he knew was what he read in the newspapers, and if I hadn't read this Journal Sentinel story, I would not have believed it.

When they say "justice delayed is justice denied," people are usually talking about a defendant's right to a speedy trial.

In the case of State Rep. Scott Jensen (R-Not Convicted Yet), it's the reverse.

Three years after being indicted on felony charges involving abuse of his state office, Jensen and his lawyers continue to stall and delay.

The latest creative effort, to be argued today, is that the trial should be moved out of Dane County.

Why?

1. Too much bad publicity about the case. That's a pretty standard argument for a change of venue, that jurors may have been prejudiced by unfavorable news coverage. (At the rate this is going, considering the transient rate in Madison and how long it's taking, there won't be anyone left who remembers the original stories by the time it comes to trial.)

2. Too many Democrats. Yes, really. Jensen and the two other ex-legislators (he is still in office) are Republicans, his lawyer argued, while 70% of the prospective jurors are Democrats. (Apparently this just came to is attention, three years after the charges.) That is a new and specious argument. If political makeup of a community becomes the basis for deciding where to try cases, where could an elected official ever be tried? In a county that splits 50-50, you'd have to assume half of the jurors were biased. The point is, our legal system is based on jurors' ability to hear the facts and make decisions based on the law, not how they vote.

3. Too many state workers. Yes, truly. Jensen says Madison is full of state workers who may be angry at him about state contracts in the past.

4. Most of the jurors would have voted for the DA, Brian Blanchard, who will prosecute the case. More uncharted territory, and totally ridiculous. Most of the jurors in Milwaukee County voted for DA Mike McCann. Most of the jurors in Waukesha County voted for DA Paul Bucher. If the judge buys that argument, no DA will ever be able to prosecute a case in the county where he/she is elected. And the attorney general, Peg Lautenschlager, would only be able to prosecute cases in counties she didn't carry last time. ( Fortunately, she lost Sawyer County, where she intends to handle the Chai Vang case, by about 100 votes, so only half the jurors there will be biased in her favor.)

As Blanchard pointed out, there is a process for questioning jurors to determine whether they know the defendants, the prosecutors, or have pre-judged the case. It's called jury selection.

It may turn out that Judge Steve Ebert buys all of these arguments today, or at least one. If he does, it will be both surprising and disappointing.

The trial is now scheduled for February, but don't block out your calendar.