Marvin J Gifford Jr, :new venue requested for death penalty charge

Published online 10/29/2008

By Jon Ruhlen - The Hutchinson News

jruhlen@hutchnews.com

Defense attorneys for a McPherson man who faces the death penalty in connection with the slaying of an 85-year-old nursing home resident want a change of venue.

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Attorneys for Marvin J. Gifford Jr., 44, filed the motion earlier this week. Gifford is charged with sexually assaulting Pearl M. Arthaud on May 18 in her assisted-living apartment in Buhler. He is also accused of sexual assaults against two other elderly women in Reno County in April.

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In his response to the request, Reno County Deputy District Attorney Tom Stanton quoted Mark Twain to support his argument that mere knowledge of the case on the part of jurors was not sufficient to warrant a change of venue.

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Stanton also cited several court decisions to support the notion that widespread knowledge of a case does not mean jurors can't be impartial, and quoted a passage from "Roughing It" by Twain, which described jury selection in a notorious case."

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The jury system puts a ban upon intelligence and honesty, and a premium upon ignorance, stupidity, and perjury," Twain wrote."Fortunately, the law does not require the total ignorance of the case that was the standard in Twain's day," Stanton wrote.

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Other motions filed by defense attorneys Tim Frieden and Jeffrey Wicks, with the Kansas Death Penalty Defense Unit, include a request to suppress statements Gifford made to police during the investigation.Investigators interviewed Gifford on June 3, the day of his arrest. According to his attorneys, Gifford made statements regarding the incident after having told detectives he wanted to terminate the interview. Attorneys say this is a violation of his constitutional rights."

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The State was well aware that Mr. Gifford had invoked his right to remain silent yet took advantage of a search warrant to interrogate Mr. Gifford, again in direct violation of Miranda," the attorneys wrote. The defense would also like to suppress statements made by Arthaud to other people regarding an alleged prior attack by Gifford, because Arthaud is no longer available to testify.