An upcoming jury trial being held in connection with the 2008 death of a 42-year-old Rochester man in a downtown alley will be lengthy and involve complex legal issues, the judge said Thursday at a pretrial hearing.
Joshua Dean Lee, 27, of Shakopee, formerly of Rochester, has pleaded not guilty to a charge of unintentional second-degree murder in connection with the death of Muhidin Mumin. Lee's trial is scheduled to start Jan. 3.
Adam Ross Brandrup, 28, of Rochester, has also pleaded not guilty to the same charge in connection with the incident. His trial date has not been set.
According to court documents, Mumin was found dead around 1:54 a.m. on Oct. 2, 2008, in an alley in the 300 block of South Broadway. Investigators could see part of an assault on a surveillance camera's view, documents show.
Rochester police have classified the beating of the Somali man as a bias crime, a determination that did not result in amendments to the criminal complaints against Brandrup and Lee.
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The prosecution plans to call about 40 witnesses, and the defense plans to call about 13 witnesses, attorneys said in court Thursday.
"Obviously we're talking about a case that's into a second week pretty easily," said Judge Joseph Chase.
Because of the complicated legal issues involved in the case, Chase said, he'd like to give jurors preliminary legal instructions to help them process the evidence they'll hear.
"I want to give the jurors some kind of heads-up on what they'll be facing," he said.
