Kansas Paper's Coverage Sparks Mistrial For Rape Suspect

By: Joe Strupp An article in a Kansas daily paper related to a rape defendant's previous sentencing led to a mistrial in the case, the Salina (Kan.) Journal reported Friday.

Saline County District Judge Jerome Hellmer declared the mistrial Thursday in the rape trial of defendant Jerry D. Sellers Jr., "saying an article that appeared in Thursday's Salina Journal left him with no alternative," the paper reported.

"As part of its coverage of Sellers' rape trial, the Journal reported Thursday that Sellers was sentenced Monday in Harvey County (Kan.) District Court to just under 11 years in prison for fondling a 13-year-old girl in Newton," the Journal reported. "The story also said that Sellers would be facing trial in both counties on child pornography charges."

The paper added that two days earlier, the Newton Daily Kansan had produced a similar story on the sentencing, adding that "a Google search of Sellers' name revealed the Kansan's story on the first page of search results."

"Hellmer had admonished jurors each day of the trial in the Saline County case to avoid any media accounts concerning the proceeding, as well as specifically mentioning that the Journal was reporting on the case and to not read the newspaper," the paper reported. "Yet Thursday, Hellmer agreed to grant the request by Randall Fisher, Sellers' attorney, for a mistrial, telling those present in court that the article in the Journal had 'tainted' the proceeding and Sellers couldn't get a fair trial."

Saline County prosecutor Christina Trocheck said she did not object.
The Journal reported that its story ran at the top of Page A5 under the headline, "Man sentenced to 11 years in sex case." A subhead read: "Same man accused of raping Salina girl, other sex charges."

"The problem we had was (the headline) was in bold face, and if (jurors) were even innocently looking through the paper, and it caught their attention, we have a compromised jury," Brent Boyer, one of Sellers' attorneys, told the Journal after Thursday's court hearing. "This is making the extra step to make sure the defendant's rights were protected."

The case that was declared a mistrial began on Tuesday. Sellers was charged with two counts of rape or aggravated indecent liberties, attempted aggravated criminal sodomy or attempted criminal sodomy, aggravated sodomy and two counts of indecent liberties, the paper said.

Journal Editor and Publisher Tom Bell described Hellmer's decision to call a mistrial a "constitutional clash of the First Amendment protecting free speech and press freedom versus the Sixth Amendment guarantee to a fair trial," the Journal reported.

"We fulfilled our responsibility to our readers," Bell said in the paper. "We would make the same call again. But the bottom line for me, right now, is I feel terrible for the victim and the victim's family."