Court action delayed in highway worker death case
Court action has been postponed by three months on a change of trial venue request from a Neillsville man who’s accused of causing a traffic crash that killed a Clark County Highway Department worker and seriously injured another last August.
The defense lawyer for 29-year-old Cory Neumueller asked the judge in the case last week to schedule another motion hearing on the change of venue request so he can have more time to gather information. Judge Daniel Diehn granted that request and set a new hearing date for Nov. 30.
Neumueller is charged with eight felony counts related to an Aug. 8, 2021 crash south of Willard on County Road G that claimed the life of 57-year-old Russell Opelt and injured his co-worker, 60-yearold David Murphy. The two men were working around 1 a.m. to clear a tree that had fallen across the road during a storm when the pickup truck Neumueller was driving approached from the north and struck the tree. Opelt died at the scene and Murphy suffered injuries that required amputation of a leg. Blood tests later found that Neumueller’s blood alcohol content was above the legal limit at the time of the crash.
Defense attorney Harry Hertel filed a change of trial venue request in May, claiming that Neumueller would not be able to have a fair jury trial in Clark County due to public sentiment calling for a severe penalty and also “significant family relations within the county to the Opelt and Murphy families.”
At the first hearing on the motion held on Aug. 12, Hertel asked for a postponement of proceedings.
“There have been some additional issues of public knowledge that came to light,” Hertel said. He also said he is hiring a private investigator to study public sentiment “as to whether there is prejudgment about my client.”
Assistant Attorney General Tara Jenswold, who is prosecuting the case because Clark County District Attorney Melissa Inlow was dismissed from it after Hertel filed a motion to have her recused, did not object to the postponement of the motion hearing and noted that a trial is not scheduled to begin anyway until April 12, 2023.
“It seems like pushing that change of venue motion out to trial a little bit makes sense,” Jenswold said.
One issue Hertel cited as creating recent publicity in the case was the Opelt and Murphy families filing earlier this year of a notice to file a lawsuit against Clark County. The Clark County Board of Supervisors voted in favor of a routine dismissal of the lawsuit, which set a time limit on how long the families have to actually file a suit. However, Jenswold said last week in court, that will not be happening.
“There will not be a civil suit filed by either the Opelt or Murphy family against the county,” she said. “There won’t be further media coverage, at least from the civil suit.”
Jenswold said the issue of a change of venue could be a moot one if she and Hertel can work out a negotiated plea deal in the case.
“We will make every attempt we can to resolve this short of trial,” Jenswold said.
Hertel also requested a modification of Neumueller’s bond conditions to allow him to attend Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meetings. Neumueller is free on a $25,000 cash bond, with restrictions that require him to be either at home or at work, with a few exceptions for medical appointments, weekly shopping, etc. Hertel asked for another exception for the AA meetings. Diehn said he will accept that change as long as specific dates, time and locations are noted.
Diehn is from Jackson County. He is presiding over the case because Clark County Circuit Court Judge Lyndsey Brunette removed herself due to the familiarity with the families involved in it.
The charges against Neumueller include homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, injury by intoxicated use of a vehicle, second-degree reckless injury, hit-and-run involving death and hit-and-run involving injury. The criminal complaint filed against Neumueller claims he left the scene of the crash to walk to a nearby residence after briefly assisting Murphy.
