The upcoming jury trial for Monongalia County Sheriff’s Deputy Lance Kuretza will now be held at the United States District Court in Wheeling after maintenance work scheduled at the original venue in Clarksburg threatened to further delay the proceedings.
Kuretza is accused of depriving an individual of his civil rights by using excessive force and then submitting a false report to cover it up in January 2018. He was indicted by a federal grand jury in August 2022, after which he was placed on leave by the Mon County Sheriff’s Department.
According to the indictment, while on duty, Kuretza subjected the victim to excessive force by punching and elbowing him in the face and, after the victim was handcuffed, spraying him with pepper spray and striking him. The offense resulted in injury and included the use of a dangerous weapon.
The indictment further alleges that Kuretza falsified his use of force report by claiming he used pepper spray before the victim was handcuffed, and by omitting any documentation of post-handcuffing force.
According to an order issued earlier this month by Northern District of West Virginia Chief Judge Thomas S. Kleeh, the Clarksburg Federal Courthouse will be closed for at least 30 days beginning July 3 for asbestos abatement.
In light of the closure, the judge found it necessary to relocate Kuretza’s trial, scheduled to begin July 10, to the Wheeling court in order to promptly administer justice and prevent any further delays in the proceedings, which have already been delayed four times.
“If the Court does not change the location of the defendant’s trial, it will be forced to continue the trial until the planned asbestos abatement has concluded and it is safe to resume court operation in Clarksburg,” Kleeh stated in the order. “This would require the defendant’s trial to be delayed by at least [24] days, possibly longer.”
Because Kuretza allegedly committed the crimes he is accused of in Morgantown, which is within the Northern District of West Virginia, the court has the right to designate the location for trial at any of the venues in the district, including Clarksburg, Elkins, Fairmont, Martinsburg, or Wheeling, even though he was first indicted at the Clarksburg location.
Before ordering the relocation, Kleeh considered the best interests of both sides, including the location of the alleged crime, the delays to the trial if it was not moved, and whether a venue change would be an inconvenience to Kuretza, witnesses, or victims.
As Morgantown is located between Clarksburg and Wheeling, and most of the government’s witnesses will be coming from Morgantown and Pennsylvania, the judge determined travel would be required regardless of the trial location and would not be an inconvenience to Kuretza or witnesses.
Kuretza’s attorney Lyle Desbold, of Shrager Defense Attorneys in Pittsburgh, said he did not expect the location change to have any affect on the trial.
Jury selection for the trial will begin at 9:30 a.m. on July 10 and the trial will commence immediately after. Trial proceedings are anticipated to last eight days.
