Estherville, Iowa — A man convicted of second-degree murder in Estherville will NOT get a new trial.
Court records say 19-year old Lee Christensen was convicted this past summer of the June 2015 murder of 19-year old Thomas Bortvit of Estherville.
Christensen’s legal counsel had filed a motion stating that Christensen’s Iowa and US Constitutional rights to a fair trial and due process of law were violated in the trial due to a number of factors. They say that it’s possible that some of the jurors made their decision because of social media posts, specifically a Facebook post, or by community comments about threats of public disorder or violence if Christensen was not convicted of First Degree Murder.
District Judge David Lester ruled on Monday, December 5th that while there was some testimony suggesting that the extraneous information about the possibility of a public disturbance, a riot, or public violence was brought to light before the jury reached their verdict, “the greater preponderance of the evidence establishes that it was not until after the jury had reached their verdict that such evidence was discussed. More importantly, the one juror who admitted she had heard the information during the course of the trial considered it ‘ridiculous’ and did not convey it to the other jurors, while another who thought she recalled hearing a comment [about] such information said the information was ‘fairly dismissed’ and could not recall when the information was conveyed.”
Judge Lester says that there is simply no proof that any statements about the possibility of a public disturbance, a riot, or public violence occurring were ever discussed or considered by the jury during their deliberations, and thus, the jury could not have exceeded the tolerable bounds of their deliberations.
Christensen’s sentencing has been set for Wednesday, December 21st at the Emmet County Courthouse in Estherville.
Second Degree Murder is a Class B Felony, and is punishable by up to 50 years in prison.
