Hornbeck case will be tried in Washington County

POTOSI, Mo. -- The Michael Devlin kidnapping trial in the Shawn Hornbeck case will be heard in Washington County -- but with an imported jury.

Attorneys for both sides agreed during a court hearing Monday to allow for a jury to be brought in. A date for the trial has not been set. A judge is expected to decide Sept. 10 what county the jury will come from.

Devlin, a 41-year-old former pizzeria manager, was arrested in January. Authorities say Shawn and another missing boy, 13-year-old Ben Ownby of Franklin County, were found at Devlin's apartment in the St. Louis suburb Kirkwood in a case that drew international attention.

Ben had been missing for four days. Shawn had been missing since 2002. He was 11 at the time of his abduction, and turned 16 last month.

Devlin also faces charges in Franklin County in the Ownby case, in St. Louis County, and in the federal system. He faces multiple life sentences if convicted of all charges.

Devlin's attorney, Michael Kielty, said he will argue for a jury to be brought from one of Missouri's larger metropolitan areas -- such as St. Louis city or Jackson County -- where attorneys could choose from the broadest pool of jurors.

"All we want is a level playing field -- it doesn't matter what venue," Kielty said.

Washington County prosecutor John Rupp said he would oppose that motion and wants a jury drawn from a rural county nearby.

Rupp said his first choice is to draw a jury from St. Francois County, which is adjacent to Washington County.

If that motion is denied, Rupp said he'd prefer a jury from northwest or southwest Missouri.

While Devlin is accused of kidnapping both boys in rural areas, Rupp said that plays no part in his desire to draw jurors from small towns. He said he simply wants to find a population that is large enough to provide a fair jury, but far enough from St. Louis to avoid the saturation media coverage the case has received there.

Washington County Circuit Court Judge Sandra Martinez will make the final ruling.

Kielty and his partner, Ethan Corlija, said they plan to push for a speedy trial at the hearing in September. Corlija said he doesn't plan to file an official motion that would set a date for a speedy trial until he and Kielty have reviewed the massive amount of evidence state and local authorities have compiled against Devlin.

Corlija said authorities have handed over seven new CDs full of evidence over the last 10 days that he and Kielty are reviewing now.

Both Rupp and Devlin's attorneys say there has been no talk of a plea deal in Washington County.

Rupp said he couldn't even speculate what terms he might find acceptable to avoid going to trial and calling Shawn to testify against Devlin.

"It's really probably unethical to even be talking about a plea bargain, because that implies guilt for a defendant," Rupp said.

Franklin County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Parks said in March that he'd discussed a plea deal in the case, but that it wouldn't contain anything fewer than several consecutive life sentences for Devlin.

Corlija immediately dismissed the notion of accepting such a deal, saying the sentence amounts to the worst-case scenario that Devlin would face in a jury trial.

Relatives of Ben and Shawn have said both boys are prepared to participate in a trial if they must.

At a brief hearing Monday morning, Kielty and Corlija presented Martinez with a memorandum that supported their change of venue motion -- anticipating that Rupp might object to the move.

Rupp told the judge he thought the attorneys had not properly filed their change of venue motion, but he did not intend to fight it.

"At this point, justice in this particular case is the top priority," Rupp said. "We shouldn't be concerned with technicalities."

Devlin remains in Franklin County Jail, held in lieu of $1 million bond.