Nichole Rice

Attorneys seeking a change of venue for the woman charged in the 2007 murder of Anita Knutson referred repeatedly in their court filing to the “Cold Justice” episode that led to her arrest in the cold case.

In a joint filing, the Ward County State’s Attorney’s office and the attorneys for Nichole Rice asked the court for a venue change based on the pervasive exposure of potential jurors to information about the case.

According to the filing signed by Rice’s defense attorney Philip Becher and Deputy Ward County State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen, both parties had analyzed the returned questionnaires from prospective jurors in Ward County and determined “there is pervasive prejudice” against Rice. Only one-seventh of the nearly 120 potential jurors who responded were found to qualify as good jurors for the case, but it was noted even that subset had knowledge of the case.

Both parties ultimately agreed that it would be possible to obtain “a substantially better panel” in another North Dakota county, as the case has been the topic of speculation for more than a decade and received extensive local press coverage and increased local attention due to the “Cold Justice” episode.

Documentary’s role in investigation

The investigation into Knutson’s death had gone cold for more than a decade when the Minot Police Department agreed to participate in the production of an episode of the true crime television documentary series. The series brings former Texas prosecutor Kelly Siegler and outside investigators to aid beleaguered or understaffed departments in closing cold cases.

The episode digging into Knutson’s murder was the 100th case taken on by the show, which Siegler and homicide investigator Steve Spingola said was one of the hardest cases they had undertaken.

“This case is the one that we never solved. It’s a teenage girl who lost her life, and there’s just really no clue as to why,” Minot Police Chief John Klug told Siegler and Spingola during an initial meeting between the show’s principals and Minot Police Department detectives Carmen Asham and Mikali Talbott.

Klug was quoted in an article published in The Minot Daily News on the 10th anniversary of Knutson’s death saying, “We don’t care who solves it. We just want it solved.”

The first installment of the episode aired on Oct. 1, 2022, less than a month after Rice’s preliminary hearing at the Ward County Courthouse on Sept. 8, 2022. Four suspects were considered by investigators as it was portrayed in the episode, but all were ruled out except for Rice, who was Knutson’s roommate at the time of the murder. Rice’s interview with Asham regarding her alibi for the night of Knutson’s murder was made the focal point of the second part of the “Cold Justice” episode, which was broadcast a week later. The episode concluded with the meeting between the “Cold Justice” team, Minot Police Department investigators and Knutson’s family, at which they shared the news they were moving forward with Rice’s arrest. The arrest was announced publicly by Klug at a press conference on March 16, 2022.

“Although most of the detectives who worked the original scene and investigation have retired, we have not forgotten about this case,” Klug said at the press conference. “We tried to actively investigate Anita’s case for the past few years, and finally, with the help of ‘Cold Justice,’ we were able to move forward and regain focus. Due to the resources, logistics, planning and experts they were able to provide, we were able to obtain an arrest warrant.”

Klug declined to comment on the motion to change the venue or any questions about “Cold Justice”‘s involvement in the investigation as any statement could be used as evidence at trial.

Siegler was also contacted for comment on the recent developments but did not respond.

Other factors, moving forward

The parties cited other factors in their stipulation that likely also contributed to the difficulty in finding impartial jurors in Ward County for Rice’s trial, including a prominent billboard south of Minot on U.S. Highway 83 and the fact that Rice and her husband were known personally by a significant number of the potential jurors. The responses also indicated to the parties that portions of the community were deeply invested in the case despite its age and a number of potential jurors expressed a desire for Knutson’s family to obtain justice, that Rice be punished or had strong emotions regarding what was alleged to have occurred.

Though the change in venue would likely cause some inconvenience to the prosecution, both parties agreed any inconvenience was outweighed by the Constitutional concerns that would be created by holding the trial in Ward County.

Minot attorney Andrew Schultz, a criminal defense attorney who once ran for state’s attorney, commented after reviewing the stipulation that the decision to seek a change of venue was rational for both parties despite their competing goals, as they both hinge on affording Rice a fair trial and an impartial jury.

“From a defense perspective, you don’t want a lot of people thinking your client is guilty before the first piece of evidence is put in evidence. For a murder case like this they’re going to call a hundred potential jurors, and as soon as they get there, 33 of them are going home because they already have a preformed opinion about the case. You don’t want the rest of the jury pool clouded by anything they might say to unbiased jurors,” Schultz said. “From the state’s perspective, they don’t want a scenario that comes up where, for lack of a better word, there’s a polluted jury pool because even if they do get a conviction, it’s grounds for overturn on appeal or post conviction relief.”

Schultz speculated the parties were likely to favor moving the trial to Cass County, given the terms of the stipulation favoring a larger population center within the state.

“Just by including that, I think they’re aiming for Fargo. Fargo is certainly no stranger to these kinds of cases going to trial,” Schultz said.

Hagar has not made a ruling on the matter, according to court records. Rice’s trial is still scheduled to run from July 15 through Aug. 2.