Change of venue possible following mistrial ruling
BY TERRY SMITH
The second-degree murder trial for Keith Eric Blankenship has been rescheduled for Sept. 13, following declaration of a mistrial last week in Blaine County 5th District Court in Hailey.
Presiding Judge Jonathan P. Brody ruled for mistrial on Thursday, April 14, during the first day of testimony in the Blankenship trial. The ruling came at the request of defense attorney Keith Roark, who objected when new information not previously known to the defense or prosecution came out during testimony by the state’s first witness.
According to court records, Lauraine Phillips, the widow of murder victim Steven Michael Romanchuk, testified that she observed Blankenship attempt to break into the home of a neighbor in the Deer Creek Road area. Roark argued that the new information was prejudicial to his client and denied him due process of law.
Blankenship, 51, is charged in the shooting death of Romanchuk, a 47-year-old neighbor, at Blankenship’s residence on Deer Creek Road north of Hailey on or about Jan. 15, 2014. Blankenship allegedly shot Romanchuk multiple times in a dispute over $100 he owed to Romanchuk.
Romanchuk’s partially decomposed body, buried in a pile of leaves, was recovered on May 16, 2014, after Blankenship the previous day reported the shooting to the Blaine County Sheriff’s Office and claimed he killed Romanchuk in self-defense. Blankenship has remained incarcerated in the Blaine County jail on $500,000 bond since his arrest on May 15, 2014.
Jury selection in the trial, that was expected to last up to three weeks, was conducted on April 12 and April 13, with testimony beginning on April 14.
The trial may now be moved to a new location, possibly to Rupert, where Brody is presiding district court judge in Minidoka County.
A change of venue hearing is scheduled before Brody on May 3 to determine if the trial will be moved and to where.
