Kozak lawyers petition court to move trial out of Johnson County based on extensive media coverage

Alexander Kozak, who is accused of shooting and killing a 20-year-old woman at the Coral Ridge Mall in June, is asking the court to move his trial out of Johnson County, claiming he couldn't receive a fair trial based on 'pervasive and extensive” pretrial media coverage.

The motion contends there is 'substantial likelihood” that Kozak, a former mall security guard, cannot receive a fair trial based on the numerous articles, websites and television news coverage that has 'saturated the community with information about this case ever since the alleged incident took place” on June 12. Kozak, 22, through his attorneys, Johnson County Public Defender Peter Persaud and Assistant Johnson County Public Defender Rachel Antonuccio, filed 199 page motion for change of venue Tuesday in Johnson County District Court. The lengthy motion includes newspaper and online articles from The Gazette/KCRG and the Iowa City Press Citizen, as well as other media companies in Eastern and Southern Iowa.

Kozak, charged with first-degree murder, is accused of shooting Andrea Farrington three times in the back at close range at Coral Ridge Mall on June 12, according to a criminal complaint. Authorities have said Kozak, who resigned just before the shooting, targeted Farrington, an Iowa Children's Museum employee, but have not provided specifics about why he fired at her that night.

According to the complaint, Kozak left the mall in the afternoon on June 12, went back to his condo and retrieved his 9 mm Glock handgun. He then returned to the mall and shot Farrington, who was staffing the mall information desk near the food court. He escaped from the mall but was later found on Interstate 80 in Scott County and taken into custody.

The attorneys in the motion claim they have provided sufficient evidence that the pretrial publicity is so 'pervasive and inflammatory” that it establishes actual prejudice in a potential jury pool. Trying Kozak in Johnson County would violate his constitutional right to an impartial jury and due process rights, they contend. A hearing is requested for the motion and the attorneys ask the court to move the trial to another county outside of Johnson, Linn, Blackhawk, Dubuque, Scott, Poweshiek and Wapello. The possible counties for trial suggested are Cerro Gordo, Pottawattamie, Story and Woodbury.

In the last hearing, 6th Judicial District Christopher Bruns said he expected this motion would be filed and he would likely have another hearing near the end of August to set a new trial date. The trial is now set for Oct. 6.

In the motion, many articles and television reports are highlighted as examples for the prejudice argument. The motion cites between June 12 and Aug. 9, coverage of the case appeared at least, 16 times in online and/or print versions of the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Some editorials and op-ed pieces written by the Press-Citizen talks about reinstating the death penalty in Iowa and expresses the 'writer's deep outrage toward Kozak, the criminal justice system and the inability to prosecute Kozak with the death penalty.”

The Gazette also provided extensive, ongoing coverage, including 11 print or online articles, the motion cites. There is also an op-ed piece which includes a quote from author Margaret Atwood – 'women are afraid that men will kill them.” The writer clarifies that she's not saying all men are violent towards women but then says 'women's fears are far from unfounded.”

The motion states the media coverage isn't confined to just Eastern Iowa but includes Scott County, the Quad-Cities area and even the region of western Illinois, southeastern Iowa and northeastern Missouri.