Hoek trial moved after jury bias concerns

Its questionable whether Joseph Hoek could have received a fair and impartial trial in Moody County, a judge ruled this past Friday.
After nearly an hour delay due to closed-door discussions among all parties Third Judicial Circuit Judge Gregory Stoltenburg entered the courtroom and swiftly ordered that the trial for the man accused of killing Moody County Chief Deputy Ken Prorok during a high-speed chase in February 2024 be moved out of the area.
The ruling followed the return of 330 out of 356 jury questionnaires, with the majority indicating respondents had already formed an opinion on Hoeks guilt or innocence.
As of Mondays print deadline, the new trial location had not yet been determined. A new trial date of Sept. 21, 2026, has been set.
Ive always been a prosecutor that believes when a crime is committed in a county in South Dakota, those citizens, that community, should decide guilt or innocence, said Attorney General Marty Jackley.
I also believe that with 330 questionnaires, we only have to pick 14 or 15 jurors that the voir dire process, there are a lot of lawyers involved in this case, could have found the right jury to be fair and impartial.
That said, Jackley acknowledged that 59 percent of respondents with a preconceived opinion was high.
Jackley requested the trial be moved to either the Black Hills region or Hughes County, where larger jury pools and prior experience with death penalty cases may help ensure fairness.
Judge Stoltenburg also overruled state objections regarding expenses tied to the defenses request to hire an additional investigator and an accident reconstruction specialist costs that will fall to Moody County taxpayers.
Following the hearing, Jackley clarified that the states objections were not about Hoeks access to resources but the size of the requests.
I felt that having one investigator was sufficient and so adding a second one was duplicative. And so I objected. I felt that when it came to review of jury questionnaires, the lawyers should be reviewing those, so I felt that was an unnecessary cost to the county. On the reconstruction side, Im an engineer. Ive dealt with reconstruction experts my whole career I just felt the dollar amount was higher than it should have been for the county. And the court agreed and reduced the request.
Sheriff Troy Wellman said the countys main concern now is seeing the case through to resolution for Chief Deputy Proroks family, his colleagues, and the community. The move means new logistics to work through, including inmate transport from Hoeks current holding facility in Madison, potential contracts with the new facility, and ensuring Moody Countys responsibilities during the trial are covered.
Prorok was killed during a high-speed chase near the I-29 and Colman exit in February 2024. Hoek is accused of swerving and intentionally running down Prorok as he deployed a spike strip. The state continues to seek the death penalty, citing that the crime involved the death of a law enforcement officer and occurred while Hoek was fleeing police.