WINNEBAGO COUNTY (NBC 26) — The trial for a young Oshkosh man accused of assaulting a school resource officer has been postponed. His lawyers argued to postpone the trial due to the Uvalde shooting.
Grant Fuhrman is facing an attempted first-degree intentional homicide charge in connection with an incident at Oshkosh West High School in December 2019.
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Fuhrman is accused of stabbing Michael Wissink with a barbecue fork after which the officer shot Fuhrman in the chest. The shooting prompted the school to be evacuated.
Fuhrman was taken to the hospital to recover and then later formally arrested. He has pleaded not guilty.
In a motion filed Wednesday, Fuhrman's attorneys argued that the trial was set to begin only days after a gunman killed 19 children and two teachers at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.
Citing widespread media coverage of the shooting, Fuhrman's lawyers said in the motion that coverage of the Uvalde shooting could influence a jury in Fuhrman's trial.
"The media coverage is not merely harmless; rather fresh images of the images of now-deceased children, heart-broken parents collapsing into the arms of family members, and crime scene tape enveloping a school setting is 'the kind of vivid, unforgettable information we have recognized as particularly likely to produce prejudice,'" the motion states. "This case should be continued until the decibel level regarding school shooting has been diminished."
On Thursday, the court granted Fuhrman's motion for continuance. A status hearing is scheduled for June 7, when a new trial date is expected to be set.
