Jury in Phillips murder case will not visit crime scene during La Crosse trial next week

There will be no road trip for a La Crosse jury next week, to visit a house where a murder allegedly occurred.

The prosecution request to take jurors in the Lori Phillips case to her residence near Holmen has been turned down by Judge Elliott Levine. Phillips is accused of hitting her husband Mark with a truck after an argument back in 2019.

Levine ruled against the argument that seeing the crime scene in person might help jurors decide the case.

“We have a plethora of evidence about the scene here today, that will be presented to the jury,” the judge told attorneys. “Quite frankly, I think a jury view would be redundant, and be a waste of time.”

Prosecutor Andrew Burdick tried to persuade Levine that jurors would gain information by going to the property where the death occurred.

“The reason that we think the jury view is appropriate here, your honor, is that it is an atypical setup for the Phillips family home, with the main house on a hill, what’s been referred to as the ‘mancave’ afterwards, the shed, and then there’s a barn behind the shed,” said Burdick.

The defense says there’s already plenty of evidence ready from the crime scene. The weeklong trial is scheduled to start on Monday.