Lawyers prepare for jury trial of former Albert Lea counselor

Lawyers discussed a series of motions Wednesday in preparation for the jury trial of the former Albert Lea High School counselor charged with sexual conduct with a student in 2022.

Jury selection for the trial of Richard John Polley, 35, is slated to begin Sept. 16.

Polley is charged with one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, including penetration, of a student from a prohibited occupational relationship during his time as a counselor at the school.

Court documents allege the student initially went to Polley as a counselor at school to talk if something was bothering her or to make changes to her schedule. In December 2021 they became friends and started talking on Snapchat, and the sexual activity reportedly happened at Polley’s house in January 2022.

After allegations emerged, the Albert Lea school board voted to terminate Polley from his position following an internal investigation.

In court on Wednesday, Polley’s lawyer, Patrick Cotter, argued to include a series of questions in the jury questionnaire about media exposure in the case. He said while he didn’t argue for a change of venue in the case, the case has received a substantial amount of press and was even named one of the top stories of the year in the Tribune.

Cotter said he didn’t want to spoil the entire panel with jurors who may have been exposed to prior coverage of the case.

Freeborn County District Court Judge Christy Hormann said she hoped to find a happy medium and have a few questions in the questionnaire about the issue and said the lawyers can also question the jurors aloud about the issue individually if necessary.

Cotter also argued for a motion that would require the state not to refer to the complaining party in the case as a “victim” and instead call them a complainant or complaining party.

Assistant Freeborn County Attorney Abigail Ehret said she disagreed.

Cotter said the jury will decide if the individual is a victim and noted that he thought using that term over and over again would be inappropriate.

Hormann said she would issue an order on the issue.

The judge also approved a sequestration order for the witnesses, including during jury selection, and said once the witnesses have testified and been excused from their subpoena they can be in the courtroom.

The case is expected to likely run the full week with the possibility of running over into the beginning of the next.

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