WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) -- A judge refused to declare a mistrial in the trial of a man accused of igniting garage fires that plagued Wausau and nearby communities in 2003.
Kevin Zarm, 39, also is accused of killing a woman but faces a separate trial in that case. A prosecution witness mentioned the murder victim during testimony in the arson trial Tuesday, something the judge had prohibited.
Marathon County Circuit Judge Vincent Howard ruled that although the jury heard the witness mention Sylvia Grade, he determined the utterance was not harmful enough to warrant a mistrial because the jury, selected from Sauk County, was unfamiliar with her.
''In no way, shape or form should they have heard the name Sylvia Grade,'' Howard said after the jury was escorted from the courtroom.
Zarm, of Wausau, is on trial for nine counts of arson, plus charges of burglary, first-degree reckless endangerment and theft in a string of fires set in Wausau and nearby communities from May to September 2003.
Nearly 90 witnesses had testified in the trial, which started May 2.
Grade was found dead outside her detached garage on Sept. 11, 2003, at her Wausau home. She was killed by a blow to the head. Zarm was charged with first-degree intentional homicide in her death.
Howard ruled earlier that witnesses in the arson trial were not allowed to mention Grade or several other fires that police believe Zarm started, although prosecutors have not charged him in those fires.
Everest Metro Police Detective Dennis Halkoski was testifying when he was cut off in midsentence after mentioning Grade's name Tuesday.
Zarm's attorney, Jim Connell, loudly objected, and District Attorney Jill Falstad interrupted Halkoski.
''It was a slip,'' Falstad said after the trial adjourned for the day. ''We've prepped with every single witness and said to them repeatedly that they cannot bring up the homicide and they cannot bring up the uncharged fires.''
A jury from Sauk County was selected to hear evidence in the trial because of extensive publicity about the case. The jury is being sequestered during the trial.
Information from: Wausau Daily Herald
