MINNEAPOLIS — The murder trial for the man accused in the fatal shooting of star student-athlete Deshaun Hill Jr. from Minneapolis North High School is now in recess until Monday, Jan. 23.
According to KARE 11's Kiya Edwards, the judge ruled in favor of the defense's request not to begin opening statements, which were scheduled for Friday.
Edwards reported Hill's family and friends were "frustrated" by the delay.
Defense attorneys for 30-year-old Cody Fohrenkam argued that the defendant felt "anxiety and agitation" about limited contact with family in recent days, saying he hasn't had time to talk with them about the last week, which they described as "heavy" with motion rulings.
Fohrenkam's attorney went on to say if the trial resumed Friday, he did not believe Fohrenkam could sit and discuss his defense "in a meaningful way."
"So, the decision is very difficult," Judge Julie Allyn said. "I don’t make it lightly, but I believe waiting until Monday is the safest decision."
In response to the proposed delay, prosecutors argued the state's witnesses also felt anxiety about the trial, but that they were ready to move forward with the case regardless.
Fohrenkam's trial finally got underway with jury selection Tuesday following a two-month delay.
Selection began at 10 a.m. to decide the fate of Fohrenkam, charged with second-degree murder in Hill's death. The two brushed shoulders during a chance encounter as both walked along the sidewalk of Golden Valley Road on Feb. 9, 2022. Hill was just 15 years old, the starting quarterback for the North Polars and a standout student.
Fohrenkam was supposed to go on trial in November but his attorneys requested more time to go over new evidence gathered by prosecutors. That request was granted, pushing the start of Fohrenkam's trial to Jan. 17.
Court began Tuesday with Judge Julie Allyn ruling on a defense motion to move Fohrenkam's trial out of Hennepin County to another venue, saying a recently released documentary series could influence the jury pool. Showtime's "Boys in Blue" chronicles the North High Polars football team, and was in the midst of filming when Hill was shot and killed.
In their filing, Fohrenkam's defense team argues that residents of Hennepin County are likely to have heard about the documentary series due to media coverage and they could personally know someone from the series. Judge Allyn, however, ruled against a change of venue. Lead prosecutor Dan Allard agreed to dismiss any juror who has watched Boys in Blue. The judge said in court that those who had only "heard about it" could remain candidates for the jury panel pending further questioning to determine if they are biased.
According to KARE 11 reporter Lou Raguse, who was inside the Hennepin County courtroom Tuesday morning, of the potential 50 jurors brought in for the trial, only one person had watched the Boys in Blue documentary. That woman was dismissed from the jury panel and the rest of the potential jurors were instructed to fill out their questionnaires. Juror examination will resume Wednesday at 10 a.m.
Fohrenkam has pleaded not guilty to the charges of second-degree murder.
On the day he was killed, Deshaun, often referred to by family, friends and members of the community as D-Hill, was out of school after students were allowed to leave class and go downtown to take part in a social justice sit-in following the shooting death of Amir Locke by Minneapolis police. Hill's family was preparing a lawsuit against the Minneapolis Public Schools, but school board members voted on Jan. 10 to settle for $500,000, the largest amount allowable by Minnesota statute.
Family attorney William Walker told KARE 11 that had North's principal, Mauri Friestleben, not allowed students to leave campus, or even taken the step to notify parents students had the option of attending the rally, Hill's family would have picked him up at North High and he would be alive today.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, Walker called on the county attorney and attorney general's office to investigate whether or not Friestleben should be investigated for criminal negligence.
"It's our position that if that principal had simply called the family... if they had simply called the mother, called the father, told them 'Yes, school is going to be let out early today' for whatever reason, the parents could have come and picked their children up. They didn't do any of that," he said.
Hill's sister Talina Hill said “If she was being a principal instead of an activist, [Deshaun would] still be here.”
"If the principal decided, 'OK, it’s a free-for-all,' we don’t know. What we do know is the school district told the principal: Do not let the kids out. That’s why it becomes a question of whether or not she engaged in what we refer to as criminal negligence as a matter of law," Walker said.
Several legal experts told KARE 11 it is unlikely that Friestleben's actions could be interpreted as a crime under Minnesota's manslaughter laws, which require recklessness and that Hill's death would have been foreseeable.
Friestleben did not respond to a request for comment.
On Tuesday, Fohrenkam's defense team also brought up the matter of jurors being potentially biased after reading about the MPS settlement. Attorney Lisa Skrzeczkoski-Bzdusek told the court the settlement has received a lot of media coverage and asked Judge Allyn to exclude jurors who have read about it. Prosecutor Allard opposed the automatic disqualification of jurors who have knowledge of the settlement, and Judge Allyn agreed. She ruled those who know about the settlement will be questioned further, but not automatically dismissed.
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