The trial for a Coralville woman accused of killing one son and injuring another will be moved from Buchanan County to Grundy County, a judge ruled today.

The trial itself will not be delayed.

Michelle Kehoe, 36, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of her 2-year-old son, Seth Kehoe. She also faces charges of attempted murder and child endangerment.

Andrea Dryer, Kehoe’s public defender, asked 1st District Judge Bruce Zager to move the proceedings, contending that Kehoe could not get a fair trial in Buchanan County because of extensive media coverage of the incident.

But Buchanan County prosecutor Allan Vander Hart argued he felt a normal jury-selection process would be sufficient to weed out any potentially biased jurors.

To decide the question, Zager approved Dryer’s request for a mock jury. The majority of that panel, which assembled Sept. 18, said they didn’t feel they could be unbiased.

No parties directly involved with the case could be reached for comment.

Alison Smith, an attorney in Iowa City, said that generally, parties strive to keep everything constant during a change of venue.

That means the case stays with the same prosecutor and — unless ordered otherwise — with the same judge.

“The only thing that changes is the actual courthouse where the trial is held,” Smith said. “The only real change is a pool of jurors who don’t know as much about the case.”

Although the Iowa Code allows subsequent changes of venue after the first move, UI law Professor Margaret Raymond said the judge must carefully decide where to move the trial to avoid future changes.

If the case is transferred outside the judicial district, there may be additional difficulties with different protocol, Smith said. But in this case, both Buchanan and Grundy Counties are in Iowa’s 1st Judicial District.

In any change of venue, there are inconveniences for the parties involved. And in many cases there is an additional cost.

Witnesses are entitled to mileage for any travel, and the judge and court reporter must be paid for travel. The judge will determine which party must cover those costs.

Though the case was reported in media throughout the state, Raymond said a judge examines not only whether there was media coverage in a certain area but also the volume and nature of the reports.

In the Kehoe case, the judge examined the quantity of media coverage in addition to how it affected potential jurors.

That coverage started in October 2008, when Kehoe’s husband, Eugene Kehoe, reported his wife and two children missing.

Buchanan County authorities discovered Seth Kehoe’s body near the Hook ’N’ Liner Pond, close to Michelle Kehoe’s minivan. They found his 5-year-old brother, Sean Kehoe, alive but severely injured, police reports show.

Kehoe was hospitalized and arrested upon her release on Nov. 5, 2008.

She will use a combined defense of insanity and diminished responsibility. Kehoe’s trial is still slated to begin Oct. 28.