Cassius Aaron Rovenstine

WARSAW — Special Judge Evan Roberts has ruled the trial of C. Aaron Rovenstine and selection of jurors will all be in Kosciusko County.

Roberts issued a ruling today, Wednesday, Nov. 9, that after convening a test jury Nov. 4, in order to determine whether a fair and impartial jury comprised of Kosciusko County citizens could be obtained, such a jury could be selected.

The order states “after thorough consideration of the test jurors’ responses to these inquiries and the arguments of counsel, the court is convinced a fair and impartial jury composed of Kosciusko County citizens can be found. Accordingly, the court’s order of Aug. 9, 2016, is confirmed in all respects.” That August ruling denied the prosecution’s request for a change of venue for the trial and to obtain a jury outside of Kosciusko County.

Rovenstine was charged in February with three counts of bribery, level 5 felonies; intimidation, a level 6 felony; and five counts of official misconduct, a level 6 and class D felonies.

A jury trial is scheduled for Feb. 7-10 and Feb. 14-15. Roberts, judge of Elkhart Superior Court 1, will try the case. E. Nelson Chipman Jr., Marshall County prosecutor, is the special prosecutor in the case.