La Crosse, WI (WXOW) - Pao Choua Vue appeared in court Tuesday for a motion hearing. He is one of two men being charged with first degree intentional homicide in the shooting death of a La Crosse woman and attempted first degree intentional homicide.
Vue is accused of being involved in two shootings on March 26th of this year. One shooting was on the north side of La Crosse, and the other led to the death of Sara Hougom.
The criminal complaint against Pao Choua Vue fired several shots at a home on Island Street. No one was injured in the shooting.
The other man, Kong Vue, the criminal complaint says, is the one who fatally shot Hougom inside her apartment on Division Street after he went inside to steal money.
During the hearing, Pao Vue's attorney, John Brinckman, made a Denny motion. Its a legal move that points the finger at someone else, in this case, a juvenile male.
In an interview with authorities earlier in the investigation, this juvenile allegedly admitted his involvement with the shootings.
The state decided that the juvenile's claims were untrue, so he is not being charged in this case.
Judge Todd Bjerke granted the motion. "The state talks about the burden of allowing the defense to present this, well that's a fact of life and part of the processes where the defense is entitled to present the defense, especially when it's this connected," said Judge Bjerke.
Brinckman also requested that the jury be brought in from outside of La Crosse County, but Judge Bjerke denied that motion.
Pao Choua Vue's jury trial is set to begin on August 20th, 2012.
The other man charged in the case, Kong Vue, is scheduled to have a separate trial for his alleged role in the crime.
