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The third degree murder trial of Aaron Jude Schnagl is in jury selection phase this week.  Tenth Judicial District Court Judge Todd Schoffelman and attorneys for the defense and prosecution agreed to several stipulations in court on Tuesday, before the process of questioning the full slate of potential jurors got underway.  Jury members probably won’t be designated until today (Jan. 7) or Friday. The court has this trial scheduled until approximately the end of this month.

The trial will not be bifurcated, or split into two proceedings, as was requested in an earlier defense motion. Consideration of Schnagl allegedly hiding the deceased’s body will not be separated out,  but will be part of the overall unintentional homicide trial.

Also, Melvin Welch, Schnagl’s attorney, declared on Tuesday that the alternative perpetrator defense will be pursued; meaning he will show that Schnagl was not responsible for the drugs that the state says were fatal.

Schnagl, formerly of rural Chisago City,  is in custody of the Department of Corrections on an unrelated offense.  

He is accused of providing cocaine that is alleged to have caused Danielle Jelinek’s death in December 2012.

Jelinek’s body was located in spring 2013 after she’d been reported missing and last seen in the company of Schnagl.  She was found in a swampy area a few hundred feet from Schnagl’s home.

There was also discussion in court on the prosecution admitting new evidence related to microscopic biological materials in the swamp.  

Asst. County Attorney Nick Hydukovich explained that newly-developed testing of diatoms, or microscopic matter, has been gaining ground as an investigative tool. The sheriff’s office obtained a search warrant for Schnagl’s vehicle.  

Diatomic matter allegedly recovered was sent to a specialized lab.   

Hydukovich told the judge, however, that test results are delayed and the prosecution doesn’t wish to postpone a case that is already a couple years old, (from date of grand jury indictment.) Even if tests of the origin of the diatom evidence are completed-- this evidence will not be introduced, he added.

There was also a decision in court Tuesday granting the prosecution’s request that Schnagl be restrained with an electronic device unseen to casual observers.  

Welch had argued that his client has no prior offenses involving either assaultive behavior or fleeing, and that the county has both plain clothed and uniformed personnel in the courts.  But Judge Schoffelman ruled that for the public’s protection the defendant will be restrained electronically. Schoffelman also ruled that various witnesses who are “in custody” may also be required to wear the “shock belt” style restraint.

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