Dad in "bitter custody battle" with mom goes to trial for her murder; children too traumatized to testify (Mankato, Minnesota)

Dad JOEL MUNT was in a "bitter custody battle" with his ex-wife (i.e.  a violent custodial siege directed against the mother). He is now set to go to trial in his ex-wife's murder. Daddy is charged with ambushing her car--while she was with the kids--then shooting and killing her as she huddled with them in the back seat. Daddy then (allegedly) highjacked another car at gunpoint and abducted the kids. The judge has ruled that the children are too traumatized to testify, however.

We've posted on this case before.

http://mankatofreepress.com/local/x1078452634/Judge-rules-two-children-cant-testify-in-Munt-trial

September 7, 2011

Judge rules two children can't testify in Munt trial

By Dan Nienaber
The Free Press The Mankato Free Press Wed Sep 07, 2011, 10:02 PM CDT

MANKATO — Three children were with their mother when she was shot to death in the Rasmussen Woods parking lot 18 months ago.

Only one of those children will be allowed to tell a jury what he witnessed when his father, 35-year-old Joel Marvin Munt, goes to trial for first-degree murder charges next week.

If that boy is called as a witness, he will testify from another courtroom away from the jury and his father, according to a ruling issued Tuesday by District Court Judge Kurt Johnson. The testimony will be televised through a closed-circuit system.

“This is necessary to minimize the trauma to (the boy) and to ensure the most amenable setting to securing (his) uninhibited, truthful testimony,” Johnson’s ruling said.

The boy was 5 years old when his mother and Joel Munt’s ex-wife, Svetlana Munt, was killed. His older sister was 7 years old and his younger brother was 4 years old. Their parents had been in a long, bitter custody battle.

Johnson questioned all three children during a closed hearing last week to determine if they were competent to testify. In a memorandum included with his order, Johnson said he asked the boys “general questions such as what they liked to do during the summer and where they went to school.” He also asked them whether they understood the difference between telling the truth and lying. Johnson said he did not ask any questions about the shooting.

The girl refused to talk to Johnson. His memorandum said that wasn’t a surprise because he had been told the girl had refused to leave her house that morning. It also took the coaxing of two social workers and the girl’s court representative to convince her to go inside the Blue Earth County Justice Center.

Once inside the courtroom, several adults attempted to get her to answer Johnson’s questions, but she refused.

“(She) is a significantly traumatized little girl and by refusing to leave her home, leave the vehicle and speak with the judge during her competency hearing, she certainly made her own case that she is not competent to testify at trial,” Johnson said.

The younger boy was willing to talk to the judge but had problems answering the same questions his older brother was asked. Whether that was due to “overstimulation” or “a simple lack of maturity,” it showed the boy shouldn’t be allowed to testify, Johnson said.

The criminal complaint filed against Joel Munt describes a scene that would have been difficult for any child to witness.

Other witnesses told investigators Joel Munt used an SUV to pin Svetlana Munt’s car against a tree in the Rasmussen Woods parking lot on March 28, 2010. Joel Munt then got out of the SUV and pointed a handgun at his ex-wife as she jumped into the back seat of her car, court records said. Investigators reported Svetlana Munt was in the back seat with her children when she was shot.

The children were removed from the car, another vehicle was stolen at gunpoint and that vehicle left the park, speeding south on Stoltzman Road. Munt and the children were in the stolen car when it was stopped south of Blue Earth County Road 90 shortly after the shooting was reported, the criminal complaint said.

Jury selection for Joel Munt’s trial is scheduled to start Monday. He is facing murder, robbery, assault, kidnapping and criminal vehicular operation charges.

Munt’s attorney, Scott Cutcher, has filed a motion for a change of venue based, in part, on media coverage of the case. Johnson said he will decide whether the motion should be granted after the jury selection process starts.