Trial for Man of Accused of Killing North Iowa Police Officer Delayed by Flood

The trial for a North Iowa man accused of killing a police officer last fall did not start Tuesday, due to the in recent flooding in Northwest Iowa.

43-year-old Kyle Ricke of Algona is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly shooting Algona Police Officer Kevin Cram to death on September 13, 2023. Cram was also a member of the Nora Springs Police Department from 2013 to 2015.

Ricke has pleaded not guilty to the Class A felony and was initially slated to stand trial in Kossuth County District Court in Algona. However, both the defense and the prosecution agreed that it would be difficult to impanel an impartial jury in Kossuth County. Last month, Judge Nancy Whittenberg concurred and moved the trial to Dickinson County District Court in Spirit Lake. 

On Monday (06.24), the defense filed a motion asking the trial be continued since Dickinson County has been declared a disaster area in the wake of last weekend’s flooding. They argued a continuance will allow for potential jurors to fix the homes and businesses that have been affected, including one of the defendant’s attorneys whose own home flooded.

The State has filed a resistance motion, but noted they would not object to a one-day delay in the start of trial.

Late Monday afternoon, Wittenberg’s ruling agreed that “There was a valid concern raised by Defendant about the potential division of jurors’ attention between the trial and the personal issues that may occur for individuals who sustained damages from the recent floods and are in the process of resolving that damage.” 

She then continued the trial to July 8th.