Friday, November 20, 2009 East Central Illinois

Urbana teacher's trial set for Feb. 25

By: Mary Schenk

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Saturday, February 09, 2008

URBANA – The last of the pretrial rulings having been made, the judge and lawyers involved in the case of a former Urbana school teacher accused of sexual molestation are ready to hit the road.

The jury trial for Jon White, 27, who has been living with his parents in Villa Grove, is scheduled to begin in Decatur on Feb. 25 and take three weeks.

White is charged with three counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and 13 counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse alleging he molested female students at Thomas Paine Elementary School in Urbana between August 2005 and December 2006. The girls were about 7 and 8 years old. White had been a second-grade teacher at the school from August 2005 to the time of his arrest on Jan. 31, 2007.

Before that, he had been a teacher at Colene Hoose Elementary School in Normal. He is also charged in McLean County with two counts of predatory criminal sexual assault and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse for alleged acts that occurred with two girls at that school some time between Oct. 1, 2004, and April 30, 2005. Those charges came to light after White's arrest in Urbana. That case is pending.

If convicted of at least two of the predatory criminal sexual assault charges, White faces a mandatory life sentence.

In November, Judge Harry Clem moved the trial to Macon County at the request of defense attorneys Carol Dison and Brett Olmstead, who maintained the media scrutiny in Champaign County precluded White from getting a fair trial in Urbana.

On Friday, Clem rejected requests by Dison and Olmstead that the potential jurors be questioned individually and that the defense be allowed to have additional peremptory challenges during jury selection. Peremptory challenges enable lawyers to excuse a juror without stating a reason why. Set by Supreme Court rule, each side has seven in felony trials that don't involve the death penalty.

Although Clem had the discretion to increase the number, he said he was not inclined to do so.

"This is certainly not the only sensationalized trial that's ever occurred," the judge said in denying the request.

As for the individual questioning, Clem said he would do his best to make sure that the responses given by potential jurors didn't taint the others in the room, as suggested by Olmstead.

Macon County is summoning 150 potential jurors – 50 more than it normally would for a jury term – who will be questioned in panels of four, first by the judge, then by the lawyers. Four alternate jurors, instead of the normal two, will be chosen.

"I absolutely guarantee there will be no one sitting on this jury who thinks the defendant has the burden of proof," Clem said.

In terms of the expense of holding the trial in another county, Macon County was about one of the cheapest settings.

Lawyers for both sides, the judge and the court staff are expected to make the commute daily. Most of the 155 potential witnesses listed by the state live in Urbana or Champaign. There are a few from the state crime lab in Springfield, some from Bloomington and Normal, and five from Florida. Only the out-of-state witnesses are expected to need overnight accommodations and flight arrangements.

Macon County Presiding Judge John Greanias has provided his courtroom. Champaign County will pay the $10 a day fee for jurors plus their mileage, the same rate that is paid in Champaign County.

Champaign County Sheriff Dan Walsh is providing court security officers, and Champaign County is sending its own court stenographers to record the proceedings. Clem's court clerk will also go to Decatur to assist in the jury selection.

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