FARGO (KFGO) – The lead defense attorney in the 2006 kidnapping and murder trial of Alfonso Rodriguez Jr. is among those who’ve been ordered to testify at an upcoming hearing in Fargo.
According to court documents, attorney Richard Ney of Wichita, KS was subpoenaed by federal public defenders who are appealing Rodriguez’s death sentence.
Rodriguez is on death row for the 2003 kidnapping and murder of University of North Dakota student Dru Sjodin. Rodriguez’s attorneys are trying to prove that he’s not mentally competent to be put to death.
The subpoena says Ney is expected to be ready to testify when the hearing begins Jan. 28 in U.S. District Court in Fargo. It’s not clear what type of information Ney is expected to provide.
In December, Federal Judge Ralph Erickson ruled that despite objections from prosecutors, a psychologist and a medical toxicologist will also testify at the hearing. Erickson said excluding evidence that could be helpful to Rodriguez is a “harsh and drastic remedy” and “is not justified in this case.”
