CRIME & COURTS

Alexander Kozak appears in court for pre-trial conference

Stephen Gruber-Miller
sgrubermil@dmreg.com
Alexander Kozak waits for his pretrial conference to begin at the Linn County Courthouse in Cedar Rapids on Friday, March 18, 2016. Kozak is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Andrea Farrington at the Coral Ridge Mall last June.

Lawyers on Friday worked out final details in the murder trial of Alexander Kozak, charged with the fatal shooting of Andrea Farrington in Coral Ridge Mall last summer.

Kozak made an appearance at the Linn County Courthouse for the pretrial hearing. The trial, set to begin April 12, is expected to take about two weeks, and could potentially finish on April 25 if it goes according to schedule, said Sixth Judicial District Judge Christopher Bruns.

At Friday's pretrial conference, Johnson County Attorney Janet Lyness agreed with Kozak's lawyer, Alfredo Parrish, that the family of 20-year-old Farrington will be allowed to be in the courtroom for the entirety of the trial.

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"I do appreciate very much, and the family does as well, that they would be able to sit in on the whole trial and not be sequestered," Lyness said, adding that she may call one family member as a witness to provide short testimony.

Kozak, 22, is charged in the death of Farrington, who was shot three times in the back on June 12 while she was working at an Iowa Children's Museum information kiosk in the mall.

Parrish raised the concern that potential jurors will find information online about Kozak before the trial, or after being selected for the jury. The trial will be held in Story County in part because the defense has argued that extensive media coverage of the shooting last summer would make it difficult for Kozak to receive a fair trial in Johnson County.

Bruns said he takes seriously concerns that members of the jury may be swayed by media coverage and said they would be informed not to research the case ahead of or during the trial.

"If I see a cellphone out during any point in the courtroom, nobody gets a cellphone," he said.

Also under discussion was surveillance video of the shooting that could be introduced as evidence. Bruns said he wanted to make sure jurors would be able to view the footage with minimal instructions and that they would not be able to accidentally access any material not entered into evidence.

Bruns also suggested both sides provide their complete witness lists to the court by March 29, which Lyness and Parrish said they believe they can do.

Lyness said she expects to have her witnesses available to testify beginning on the morning of April 15, lasting through April 19 or 20. Parrish would then present the defense's witnesses, including a psychiatrist, to make the case for a diminished responsibility defense, claiming Kozak had a mental defect at the time of the crime. The state's rebuttal is likely to fall on April 21 or 22, Bruns said.

On Thursday, Lyness and Assistant Johnson County Attorney Naeda Elliott filed a motion to exclude some of the evidence that is part of Kozak's defense.

In that motion, Lyness argued that a psychiatrist chosen by the defense to examine Kozak had not been able to diagnose any mental illness. According to the motion, the psychiatrist, William Logan, said, "At present Mr. Kozak does not fit clearly into either of the mentioned diagnostic categories who share in common an aggressive overreaction to a stressor."

The motion also argued that testimony from another defense witness, Andrew High, who is described as a communication studies professor, is irrelevant because he cannot speak to Kozak's mental condition.

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Mention of Kozak's physical medical condition and any mental health treatment prior to the date of the shooting should also be excluded, the motion argues.

Farrington's parents have filed a lawsuit against Coral Ridge Mall and its security provider claiming they acted negligently by failing to protect Farrington from harassment and threats by Kozak before she was shot. Lyness' motion also argues mention of that lawsuit should be excluded from the trial.

Bruns indicated that he wanted Lyness to provide more information about the motion before the trial begins.

Reach Stephen Gruber-Miller at 319-887-5407 or sgrubermil@press-citizen.com. Follow him at @sgrubermiller.