Published Jan. 14, 2013, at SJ-R.com, in The State Journal-Register and in the Lincoln Courier
By Jayette Bolinski
LINCOLN — The trial of Christopher Harris, one of two brothers accused of slaying five members of Beason’s Gee family in 2009, will take place in Peoria County.
McLean County Circuit Judge Scott Drazewski on Monday granted Harris’ attorneys’ request for a change of venue for the trial.
Defense attorneys said the Logan County jury pool is too tainted because of extensive media coverage of the grisly murders and because so many people knew the victims, the accused and others involved in the case. Harris would not receive a fair trial in Logan County, they said.
Peter Naylor, one of Harris’ attorneys, noted that the court has “gone to great measures to keep details about the case from leaking into the media,” but said information contained in motions and disclosures to come could further taint the jury pool.
Prosecutors opposed the change-of-venue request.
Logan County State’s Attorney Jonathan Wright argued there is no way to know how much of an influence print and online media coverage of the crime has had on residents and whether any of the anonymous online commenters who posted inflammatory comments about the case were, in fact, from Logan County.
Wright also noted that most of the nearly 500 known articles about the crime were published between September and December 2009 — more than three years ago.
“This is not a community that has been saturated to the point where they can recall details (about the crime),” Wright argued.
Harris’ trial is scheduled to begin April 29. The change of venue is not expected to cause a delay. Drazewski said court officials have consulted with the chief justice in Peoria County about such matters as scheduling, facilities, media coverage and security.
Other counties that were considered to handle the trial were Sangamon, Macon, Tazewell, McLean and Champaign.
Naylor said after the hearing that he is satisfied with the judge’s ruling.
“We had looked previously at Peoria County. It’s six times the size of Logan County,” he said. “This is a jury pool that is more used to seeing violence in their publications than Logan County is.”
Rick Gee, 46, his wife Ruth, 39, and three of their children — Justina Constant, 16, Dillen Constant, 13, and Austin Gee, 11 — were found bludgeoned to death inside their Beason home in September 2009. A fourth child, 3-year-old Tabitha Gee, survived the attack.
Harris, 34, who was divorced from the Gees’ oldest daughter, Nicole, and his younger brother, Jason, 25, are charged with a total of 139 crimes between them in connection with the killings. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
Christopher Harris’ attorneys contend their client arrived at the Gee home in search of marijuana, but walked in on Dillen Constant killing his parents and two sisters. They say Christopher Harris killed the teenager in self-defense.
Prosecutors allege the Harris brothers showed up at the house armed with a tire iron, intending to steal a laptop computer and sexually assault Justina Constant.
Jason Harris has a separate legal team. It is unclear when he might go to trial, but he is expected to testify at Christopher Harris’ trial.