Linda man will be judged here on DUI deaths

The jury trial of a Linda man charged with the drunken driving deaths of six members of an Olivehurst family will stay in Yuba County, a judge ruled Monday.

Yuba County Judge Kathleen O'Connor denied a change of venue motion by Public Defender Ben Wirtschafter, who said pretrial publicity would prevent Bradley Charles Bledsoe from receiving a fair trial in Yuba County.

Bledsoe is charged with six counts each of second-degree murder and gross vehicular manslaughter while driving under the influence in the September 2006 deaths of Tomas and Maribel Negrete, their two children and Maribel Negrete's parents.

O'Connor called recent publicity in the nearly two-year-old case "negligible" except for media accounts of Bledsoe's court appearances.

Wirtschafter told O'Connor he may appeal the ruling to the District 3 Court of Appeal.

To try and prevent further publicity before jurors are chosen, O'Connor imposed a gag order preventing attorneys from talking to media about the case.

No date has been set for the jury trial.

If interviews of potential jurors reveal more knowledge of the case than thought, O'Connor said, she will reconsider a change of venue motion.

O'Connor said she gave "not much weight, if any" to the opinions of two defense experts who testified that the family members' deaths are "indelibly seared in the community memory."

Edward J. Bronson, a retired Chico State University professor, conducted a telephone survey for the defense showing high public awareness of the Bledsoe case.

O'Connor questioned the methodology of the survey.

"It is not lost on the Court that many of the statements made by (Bronson) as a basis for his conclusions are not theories that have ever been relied up in the appellate cases previously rendered in the state of California," O'Connor wrote.

Bronson also said the location of the accident on Highway 70 just south of the E Street bridge would be a reminder to Yuba County jurors that something similar could happen to them.

In their arguments against the motion, prosecutors said Bledsoe is not facing the death penalty, unlike some other cases where a change of venue has been granted. Also, the deaths of six people, including two children, would have the same impact on jurors in any county, they said.

Contact Appeal-Democrat re-porter Rob Young at 749-4710 or ryoung@appealdemocrat.com.