Haglin’s attorney asks for sexual exploitation case to be moved

CEDAR RAPIDS - A lawyer for Mary Beth Haglin, a former Washington High substitute teacher accused of having a sexual relationship with a student, argued Thursday that the 'sheer” number of articles and the 'tone” of some of them demonstrate 'actual prejudice” and prevent a fair trial in Linn County.

Katie Frank, Haglin's lawyer, said there have been 33 articles published in The Gazette regarding Haglin's case, which is a high volume in comparison to those regarding a man, Travis Standlee, who was convicted of killing two people. There were only 28 articles relating to Standlee's cases, she pointed out.

Haglin, 24, is charged with felony sexual exploitation. She is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old student while she was a substitute teacher at Washington High School from Jan. 1 to May 17 of this year.

If convicted, Haglin faces up to five years in prison.

In a motion asking the court to move Haglin's trial, Frank points out the case has been reported by local and national news outlets, but many of these 'accounts include inaccurate, misleading, irrelevant, sensationalized and otherwise inadmissible evidence.”

Haglin has appeared on episodes of 'Dr. Phil,” 'Inside Edition” and 'Crime Watch Daily,” as well as participating in interviews, admitting to the sexual relationship, with The Gazette and other news outlets.

Frank argued during the hearing that some of the information in those interviews wouldn't be permitted at trial, such as the fact that Haglin now works as an exotic dancer at Woody's Show Club and that Haglin violated pretrial release conditions by having contact with the 17-year-old student after the charge was filed.

Frank said the state argues Haglin created much of the pretrial publicity because she participated in these television shows and interviews, but there's nothing in the statute saying Haglin 'forgoes her 6th Amendment right” to a fair and impartial jury because she speaks out about her case.

Frank also asked 6th Judicial District Judge Kevin McKeever to look at the reactions to the articles on social media, because many of those comments are inflammatory and derogatory against Haglin. Frank noted that the case has incited emotional reactions, outside of Haglin's alleged actions, from people in the community because longtime Washington Principal Ralph Plagman lost his job in the fallout over the handling of the school district's internal investigation of the Haglin case.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Monica Slaughter, arguing against moving the trial, said the pretrial publicity was nationwide, not specific to Linn County, and that's due to the 'behavior of the defendant,” going on shows and giving accounts of her sexual relationship with the student. She has portrayed herself as the victim - being 'duped by the victim,” Slaughter claims.

'I don't think holding a trial in another county would help,” Slaughter said. 'It's been publicized nationally.”

Slaughter said that if there are opinions in the community regarding the case, they're based on Haglin's own words. Haglin has attempted to try her case in these shows and interviews, Slaughter said.

And opinions on social media doesn't mean a fair and impartial jury cannot be selected in Linn County, Slaughter added.

The other issues Frank asked the court to determine before trial is whether Haglin was a 'school employee” according to the state statute, and if she would be eligible for a deferred judgment or suspended sentence and probation if convicted.

Frank previously filed a motion and only made a brief argument on Thursday, saying Haglin wasn't a 'practitioner” or 'teacher.” She was a part-time substitute teacher, not an employee or member of the instructional staff of a state high school, Frank argued.

On the deferred judgment or suspended sentence argument, Frank said the code shows the court cannot defer judgment or suspend sentence for anyone convicted of a crime under this statute who is a 'mandatory reporter” when the victim is under 18 years of age.

But Frank argues there are two provisions under this statute and cites a case decided last year in Woodbury County where the judge concluded imposing a mandatory prison sentence went beyond the intent of the statute.

Assistant Linn County Attorney Heidi Carmer argued Haglin is a licensed teacher in Iowa and she was employed full time as a ninth and 10th grade language arts substitute teacher. The code section as written applies to Haglin, who was a school employee and a teacher, she argued.

Regarding the deferred judgment or suspended sentence, Carmer said there's no dispute that a licensed teacher and school employee is a mandatory reporter, and the statute prohibits anyone who is a mandatory reporter from being eligible for probation if convicted of this charge. She added that the Woodbury case didn't apply because it involved a coach and Haglin was a teacher who 'victimized a 17-year-old student.”

McKeever took the matter under advisement and plans to file a written ruling at a later date.