Shooting trial to move from Franklin County

FARMINGTON – A judge has ordered that the murder trial of Steven D. Holloway be moved from Franklin County because of extensive pretrial publicity.

Holloway, 38, is accused of shooting Albert “Sonny” Parker in the stomach with Parker’s hunting rifle on Jan. 13, 1998, in Wilton.

The case is expected to go to trial later this year, probably in Kennebec County Superior Court, according to Assistant Attorney General Lisa Marchese.

Holloway was being held without bail at the Franklin County Jail.

In a decision issued last week, Superior Court Justice S. Kirk Studstrup agreed with Holloway that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to find an unbiased jury in Franklin County.

David M. Sanders, Holloway’s lawyer, said in a motion that coverage of the case in two newspapers with circulation in Franklin County and the resulting private discussion and gossip were reasons to change the trial’s venue.

In another decision, Studstrup denied Holloway’s request to bar the testimony of a man Holloway knew in jail. Shawn Moore said in a hearing that Holloway made statements that placed him at the scene of the killing and might suggest a motive.

Sanders argued that Moore’s claims are at odds with the known facts of the case. But Studstrup wrote that despite several apparent factual errors in Moore’s testimony, the jury should remain the “ultimate arbiter of reliability.”

“We now know what is admissible,” Marchese said. “We still believe we have a viable case.”

In October, the Maine Supreme Judicial Court overturned a decision to let statements from Holloway’s interrogation by detectives be used at trial. The court said state police went too far in interviewing Holloway without informing him of his rights to remain silent and have an attorney present.

Holloway received a 30-year prison term when he entered a guilty plea that was contingent upon the status of his confession.

After the high court’s ruling, Holloway withdrew his guilty plea. Studstrup then reviewed the police interviews in light of the ruling and found that most of Holloway’s comments were now inadmissible as evidence.