Jury selection to begin in Coral Ridge Mall murder trial

Jury selection is set to begin Tuesday in Story County in the murder trial of a former security guard, Alexander Kozak, accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Andrea Farrington last summer inside the Coral Ridge Mall.

During a hearing Monday Sixth Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns said he would make his final rulings on remaining issues related to expert witnesses before jury selection starts on Tuesday. The trial, moved from Johnson to Story County because of extensive pretrial publicity, is expected to last over two weeks.

Kozak, 22, of North Liberty, charged with first-degree murder, is accused of shooting Andrea Farrington, 20, three times in the back on June 12, 2015, as she was working at the Iowa Children's Museum information desk. If convicted, he faces life in prison without parole.

During Monday's brief hearing, Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness and Assistant Johnson County Attorney Naeda Elliott argued that one defense expert, William Logan, was unable to diagnose Kozak with a mental illness and his testimony would be irrelevant because there's no mental condition to support diminished capacity, as Kozak is claiming as his defense. The state also argues another expert, Andrew High, a communication studies professor, also shouldn't be allowed to testify about Kozak's mental condition.

Bruns took those under advisement and will make his ruling on Tuesday.

Alfredo Parrish asked the court to allow the state's expert to send him the psychological testing, which may alter his legal defense, instead of the state's expert sending the results to the defense's expert.

Bruns ruled the results from the state's psychologist will go directly to the defense's expert in accordance with the rules, and then that expert can discuss those with Parrish.

The state plans to call investigators, family members, expert witnesses and witnesses who were at the mall that day to testify, according to court documents. They will also play video recordings taken from mall surveillance and a video recording of Kozak's police interview.

The defense plans to submit many photos of Kozak from various times in his life and phone and text records from April 22 to June 22, 2015, according to court documents. His witness list includes family members and police officers and security personnel, documents show.

A civil suit filed in January by Farrington's parents against the mall and security company that employed Kozak as a guard asserts Kozak harassed and threatened Farrington before the shooting.

Court documents show Kozak told police after being arrested that she broke up with him that day, but nobody has confirmed the two had any relationship. Kozak was married at the time.

The suit says Farrington complained to the security company about Kozak harassing and physically threatening her. He had access to her phone number because the company had it on file, the suit says.

The company instructed Kozak to stay away from her and assigned him to a different patrol area of the mall, according to the suit, but Kozak didn't comply.