Dancer embezzlement trial begins Monday

The retrial of William Dancer, who is accused of embezzling more than $400,000 from his former employer, Sagle, Idaho-based Independence Home Center Inc., nearly three years ago, is scheduled to begin Monday and last six days.

Dancer’s weeklong trial in March ended after two days of deliberations resulted in a hung jury.

The prosecution accused Dancer, IHC’s former Libby branch manager, of opening an unauthorized bank account in the manufactured home supplier’s name, and shuffling between his personal bank accounts money from customer checks.

Dancer’s defense claimed that he deposited homebuyers’ checks into his accounts to pay business expenses that his company wouldn’t reimburse him for and that IHC was shorting him on his sales commissions. His defense maintained that it was a business dispute, not criminal action.

District court judge Michael Prezeau denied Dancer a change of venue last month after his attorney filed the motion based on a survey of 65 Libby residents conducted by Dancer’s private investigator. The defense stated that Dancer could not get a fair trial in Lincoln County based on “extensive pretrial publicity” and survey results that reveal a “hostile attitude of the public-at-large.”

Prezeau responded that the publicity would have to be inaccurate or inflammatory to be considered as a reason for a change of venue and that Prezeau’s interpretation of the survey results indicate that an impartial jury could be drawn in Lincoln County. Out of the 65 Libby residents polled, 25 expressed an opinion of Dancer’s guilt, while the remaining 40 were either unfamiliar with the case or did not have an opinion.

Prezeau also pointed out that a preconceived notion of guilt does not automatically disqualify someone from jury duty if the individual is able to set the opinion aside and render a verdict based on the evidence given in court.

In addition, Prezeau said, the court draws jurors from all over the county, not just Libby where the poll was conducted. Potential jurors from Eureka, for example, would not be so informed of the case, Prezeau said.