Doucette trial begins in Granite Falls

The trial for a Franklin man who is accused of running over and killing his room mate continues today in Yellow Medicine County District Court in Granite Falls.

The trial for 39-year-old Russell Doucette was to have been held in Renville County but Judge Dwayne Knutsen granted a request to change the venue to Yellow Medicine County due to pre-trial publicity in the area where the jury pool was to be drawn from.

Doucette is accused of running over and killing Randy Oletzke at the farm site the two shared near Franklin in August of 2017 and not reporting it until the next evening. He was charged with manslaughter and two counts of criminal vehicular homicide. However, in August he pleaded guilty to one of the criminal vehicular homicide charges and the other two charges were dismissed.

When he was to be sentenced September 17th, Doucette learned he would likely be facing prison time and withdrew his plea. He is now scheduled to stand trial on charges of 2nd Degree Manslaughter and one count of Criminal Vehicular Homicide. The trial is slated to last three days.

(JP Cola, KWLM)