Keith Graves is awaiting trial in North Dakota on 10 federal counts which includes 7 allegations of human trafficking. He is a main player in The Overnighters documentary. I have discussed his situation on my blog several times.
His trial was scheduled to start July 13.
At a status update hearing on June 23, his trial was continued. It is now scheduled to begin October 19, 2015. Trial will be held in Bismarck and is expected to take 10 days.
Mr. Graves requested the continuance to allow him additional time to prepare. The two habeas orders to get two witnesses into court for testimony were withdrawn.
I obtained all of the above information from the federal PACER system on June 30.
Previously, the federal judge had stated in court filings the trial was expected to take 3 days. Now it is scheduled for 10.
On May 19, the federal judge ordered all the discovery material be provided to Mr. Graves after having been approved to represent himself. A trial in mid-July would not give him much time to prepare. A continuance until mid-October makes a lots more sense. Five months instead of two months is quite reasonable, it seems to me.
Actually, I’m not sure five months is sufficient to get through the 22 CDs of discovery material, do all the necessary research, develop a strategy, and prepare to defend against 10 serious felony charges.
Posts on Mr. Graves’ status:
- 4-11 – Current status of Keith Graves, one of the main people in documentary “The Overnighters”
- 6/16 – Update on the federal charges against Keith Graves
- 7/1 – Keith Graves’ trial postponed to October 19, 2015 (post you are reading)
Update 10/1 : Keith Graves trial still set for October 19