Wold change of venue for OWI set for Henry County, Iowa
The OWI case involving landlord Andrew Wold has been moved to Henry County, Iowa, according to an order from the Supreme Court of Iowa.
Wold, 42, owned the downtown Davenport apartment building that collapsed in Davenport on May 28, 2023, killing three people and injuring others. Dozens lost almost everything they owned once the building was demolished.
Bettendorf Police arrested Wold on Nov. 22 on a charge of OWI (operating a vehicle while intoxicated).
Earlier this month, a judge granted his request for a change of venue from Scott County.
Wold faces a serious misdemeanor charge of operating a vehicle while intoxicated and, in a companion case, speeding.
The test for whether a court should grant a change of venue motion is whether a “reasonable likelihood” exists that the defendant could not receive a fair trial in the county where the trial is to take place.
Media attention, court documents say, “has spiraled into other matters outside of the collapse.”
“Indeed, a Google search for ‘Davenport building collapse’ returns 1,440,000 results, and a search for ‘Andrew Wold’ returns 3,390,000 results,” court documents say.
When a motion for change of venue is granted, the prosecution continues in the county where the action is transferred, according to court records.
District Associate Judge Korie Talkington has been assigned to preside over the case, according to court documents filed Feb. 7. The trial location has been changed from Scott County in the Seventh Judicial District to Henry County in the Eighth Judicial District.
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Pretrial conferences – meetings between attorneys and the judge to work out details of a case – were set for Wednesday afternoon, but will continue on March 20 in Scott County Court because of “additional time needed for plea negotiations or discovery,” according to court documents.
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