Jackie Rolston will have to face another jury in Elkhart County despite wanting her retrial held elsewhere.
The New Paris woman is accused of beating and neglecting 19-month-old Kirk Coleman while he was in her care. Despite a mistrial last month, a judge ordered her retrial to remain in Elkhart County…for now, according to ABC 57.
Rolston’s attorneys argued that media coverage surrounding the case and Kirk’s Law means an untainted jury can’t be pulled from Elkhart County. The judge did agree to a point: the trial could still be moved if the jury selection process backfires. A mistrial was declared last month because jurors traded information about Rolston’s past with one another during the trial.
Her retrial will take place on Nov. 28.
Initially, Rolston told police in Oct. 2014 that Kirk Coleman was choking on his lunch. But Coleman died hours later, and a coroner ruled he died of blunt force injuries.
Rolston was actually convicted of neglect of a dependent. However, Coleman’s family worked to get Kirk’s Law passed, which requires the creation of a database of people convicted of child abuse. That database must be up and running by July 1, 2017.
