Change of venue follows earlier ruling of mistrial
BY TERRY SMITH
Fifth District Court Judge Jonathan P. Brody ordered Tuesday that a trial in the second-degree murder case against Keith Eric Blankenship be moved to Minidoka County.
The trial, expected to last up to three weeks, is now scheduled to begin before Brody in Rupert on Sept. 27.
The change of venue follows declaration of a mistrial by Brody in Blaine County 5th District Court in Hailey on April 14. The mistrial was declared on the first day of testimony when a prosecution witness divulged information before the jury that was not previously known by either the defense or prosecution. In requesting the mistrial, Public Defender Keith Roark claimed that the information, concerning an allegation that Blankenship tried to break into a neighbor’s house in the Deer Creek Road area, was prejudicial to his client.
Blankenship, 51, is charged in the shooting death on or about Jan. 15, 2014, of his neighbor, 47-year-old Steven Michael Romanchuk, in a dispute over money. Blankenship has remained incarcerated on $500,000 bond since his arrest in May of 2014. He is also charged with a second felony of concealment of evidence.
With the change of venue, the trial will now be held in Brody’s home court. He normally presides over 5th District Court in Minidoka County but was assigned to the Blankenship case following the disqualification of Blaine County 5th District Court Judge Robert J. Elgee.