Franco’s lawyer files for change of venue
By Rae KrugerMARSHALL — Manuel Guerrero, the lawyer for Olga M. Franco, has filed notice with the Lyon County District Court Administrator’s office for a change of venue in Franco’s case, the office confirmed Tuesday.
Franco is charged with four counts of criminal vehicular homicide for the deaths of four students in the Feb. 19 Lakeview bus crash. Franco is also charged with multiple counts of criminal vehicular injury related to the students injured in the crash.
The notice said the motion for a change of venue will be made at a court hearing Thursday in Marshall, the court administrator’s office said.
Franco was driving a van on Lyon County Road 24 when she did not stop at a stop sign at the intersection of the county road with Minnesota Highway 23 and hit the bus, the complaint alleges. Franco did not have a driver’s license, the complaint alleges.
Immigration and Customs Exchange officials have said Franco is in the U.S. illegally and used a false identity while in the U.S. ICE said Franco is from Guatemala.
During a recent hearing in Marshall, Guerrero said Franco has maintained she was not the driver of the van and that her boyfriend was the driver. Her boyfriend has not been seen since the day of the crash, Guerrero said during the hearing.
