MANKATO, Minn. – The attorney representing Adam Fravel at his murder trial asked the judge to order prosecution witnesses against using prejudicial language before the jury. It’s unfair to Fravel that there’s been repeated police testimony referring to the Winona duplex where Fravel and Madelline Kingsbury lived as a “crime scene.” It’s up to the jury to decide even if there was a crime, said Zach Bauer. Also it’s not been established where it was that Kingsbury died, Bauer said. He told Judge Nancy Buytendorp that he would ask for a mistrial if such presumptuous references continue.  Bauer also asked the judge to admonish witnesses against referring to Kingsbury as “Maddi,” a sympathy-evoking nickname from childhood that is misleading, irrelevant and improper in American jurisprudence that presumes innocence until a jury comes to a verdict.

Earlier: Fravel trial /6: Suspicious mud as evidence?

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