FARIBAULT, Minn. — When the arrest of St. Olaf College sophomore Waylon Kurts was announced and the evidence found in his dorm and car was described, the reaction on campus and in the Northfield community at large was that a mass casualty event had been avoided.
But Kurts, back in Minnesota from his home in Vermont for a hearing at the Rice County Courthouse, is not just trying to prove his innocence — his attorney Paul Rogosheske is fighting for the judge to toss the case before it gets to a trial.
When asked what he thinks a jury would do if they see the evidence, Rogosheske said, "I think the jury is going to be on our side. I mean, the evidence is clear. There's not one person who said he wanted to hurt us. And everything that they have, we have an explanation for," Rogosheske said.
Prosecutors have pointed to a hand-drawn map Kurts made of the Tostrud/Skoglund athletic center as part of his alleged plan for a mass shooting. But a fellow student came forward and gave a sworn affidavit to Rogosheske, saying Kurts drew a map for him with directions to a place to meet so he could practice driving Kurts' manual transmission car.
Kurts is charged with conspiracy to commit assault, while prosecutors finally named a co-conspirator — a friend of Kurts' from Vermont who hasn't been charged and who also signed a sworn affidavit that Kurts wasn't planning anything.
"So they talk about guns. They talk about various ammunition. Waylon sent him some magazines because they're cheaper here than they are in Vermont," Rogosheske said.
Rogosheske has shared the text messages between Kurts and the friend about their mutual interest in guns, and he says Vermont authorities have ruled out a conspiracy.
"Vermont police officer talked to their county attorney who talked to this county attorney, and the statement is: There is no conspiracy here in Vermont," Rogosheske said.
The prosecution has pointed to other drawings and writings by Kurts, which authorities found alarming, and other behavior at school that some students found strange.
But Rogosheske argued that after filing the charges and framing the evidence one way, authorities are unwilling to consider alternate explanations.
"What happened is they just got so myopic that they lost sight of the real evidence and they dig a hole. And it's kind of like the world today. Everything has to be so black and white, and even if you have evidence that says I'm right, everyone ignores that," Rogosheske said.
The next decision to be made is whether the judge schedules a trial for this case or if she decides to dismiss the charges before it gets to that point. A decision could be made by late January.
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