The trial of Israel Mireles in the murder of Emily Sander is set to begin Feb. 8 despite a request for a continuance from the defense and a possible furlough of court officers.
A pre-trial hearing was held Wednesday to hear final motions in the case.
One issue readdressed was the defense's objection to some of the photos the state was going to enter into evidence.
Defense attorney Melanie Freeman Johnson objected to the prejudicial effect of the photos showing injuries to Sander.
After Judge David Ricke viewed the photos, he ruled the photos were not duplicitous and would be allowed. He said if the objection continued they may readdress it during the trial before the jury viewed the photos.
They also looked at the proposed jury instructions, which will be finalized at a later date and discussed the possible furlough of court employees.
The state has said there may be a furlough the third week of February, which would fall in the second week of the trial. There was concern over having a week-long break in the trial, but Ricke did not want to continue the trial until a later date.
He said as of Wednesday morning, there was no additional information on the possible furlough.
He believed it would be unfair to have a long break in the trial.
One possibility was a suggestion by the attorney general's office they pay for the court reporter and bailiff, who would be affected by the furlough, although nothing official has been presented to the court.
Another possibility was to continue the trial on Saturday, Feb. 13, if it was possible to conclude it before the furlough.
There also was the possibility of the district court requesting special permission from the Kansas Supreme Court to continue the trial during a furlough. Ricke said he had already asked about this, but was told it was premature to grant such a request.
Freeman Johnson was concerned the state would take the entire first week to present their case, then the break would postpone the defense's presentation.
She felt there would be greater prejudice to the defense than the state with such a break.
Freeman Johnson also objected to the attorney general's office paying any court officer's salary because of the possible prejudice.
She still suggested continuing the trial for mid-February, as she had requested before.
"Being a capital murder case, this case has moved very fast compared to other capital murder cases," she said.
