Trout trial faces another setback
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HARRISVILLE -- The Trout trial faces another unfortunate setback as the Alcona County courthouse building was closed on Wednesday due to poor weather conditions
Trout faces murder and child abuse charges for the alleged killing of 2-year-old Jayde McDonnell, the child of Trout's then-girlfriend Adrienne Pavelka.
Judge Laura Frawley scheduled Wednesday's trial to begin a bit later than usual in anticipation of more difficult roads due to the winter weather advisory, however, the snowfall greatly exceeded expectations, forcing the courtroom to close for the day and delaying the trial further.
This incident is the latest in a series of postponements that have delayed Trout's trial which was initially scheduled to take three weeks to complete and started its jury selection process on Nov. 27.
The first major setback occurred on Dec. 3 when the court was adjourned for the day without any testimony because one of the jurors was unable to make it to court due to sickness. That juror would go on to be dismissed from the trial entirely the next day when they produced a doctor's note to the court.
Dec. 4, the same day of that jurors' official dismissal, saw the second major setback which was two additional jurors testing positive for COVID-19.
This delay would ultimately go on for two weeks as other jurors tested positive for COVID-19.
The third major setback occurred on Dec. 18, when a family emergency led to a juror being absent that day.
Additionally one of the prosecution's key witnesses also tested positive for COVID-19.
Those two factors ultimately lead to the case being adjourned for the rest of December.
The case then faced another setback on Friday when the trial had to be adjourned early due to an incident involving two court spectators on two separate occasions spoke to junior leading to Alcona County prosecutor Thomas Weichel requesting that both of them be found in contempt of court, however, that request was later rescinded.
The trial was scheduled to resume this morning.