Kurt Steidley's second trial on a second-degree arson charge will be held in Cole County, and was scheduled Wednesday to begin Nov. 17.
Circuit Judge Dan Green ruled Wednesday that media coverage of the first trial, last January, "was not so pervasive as to deny Mr. Steidley a fair trial."
Steidley's attorney, Shane Farrow, had asked Green to order a change of venue in the case over concerns that News Tribune and local television reports of the first trial, Jan. 8-13, would make it impossible to pick a jury for the retrial.
Jury selection "would be impossible," Farrow told Green Wednesday. "I can't ask if the media coverage has prejudiced them, without mentioning the conviction."
A jury on Jan. 14 convicted Steidley, 53, Knob Noster, of second-degree arson, after hearing evidence during a four-day trial that authorities thought Steidley set the Jan. 1, 2011, fire that heavily damaged Everhart's Sporting Goods, 2436 Missouri Blvd.
Steidley owned the business but had closed it on Christmas Eve, because it had been losing money.
After the conviction, Farrow in March asked Green to order a new trial, saying Cole County Prosecutor Mark Richardson, before the trial, had not disclosed that interim Jefferson City Fire Chief Jason Turner would testify about comments Steidley reportedly had made to investigators.
Rules of evidence require both sides to disclose to the other what their evidence will be, so that the attorneys have a chance to prepare their own evidence and arguments.
Green had sustained Farrow's objection the first time the statement was made, during Turner's trial testimony, but Green overruled the objection the second time the jury heard about the comment.
Saying his failure "to grant a remedy to the defendant on the second occasion" resulted in "prejudice to the defendant," Green granted the new trial motion on April 10.
Farrow subpoenaed court media coordinator Bob Watson to remind Green of the media's coverage of the Steidley trial, since a TV station's and the newspaper's cameras had been allowed to record pictures before the trail began.
Watson said the News Tribune wrote several stories about the trial, and posted those stories online as well. KMIZ-TV and KRCG-TV also had on-air and online stories about the jury's verdict.
Richardson argued that news stories are a part of many trials, including - in some cases - stories published or broadcast the morning a trial is to begin.
However, Richardson added, he's discovered that "not as many people follow these stories as we think they do."
Green said he would reconsider his decision to overrule the change of venue motion if the attorneys have trouble choosing a jury in November.
Second-degree arson is a Class C felony and, if there's a conviction, the sentence could include up to seven years in prison.