Adame, Knudsen trials pushed back to fall

By: 
Robert Maharry

A pair of high-profile cases with Grundy County connections have been postponed to the fall after they were originally scheduled for April.
           
The murder trial of 28-year-old Armando Adame III, who has been charged with the premeditated killing of Grundy Center man Michael Johns in 2017, is now tentatively set for November 5 in Floyd County. On May 2, a defense motion to withdraw counsel was approved, and according to court filings, the delay will allow for more time to take depositions and file motions. Adame, who was charged in late January, has pled not guilty and is already serving a 25-year federal sentence on a firearms conviction.
           
Locally, the trial of Paul Knudsen, who was convicted of felony Sexual Abuse and sentenced to life in prison two years ago, has been set for October 2. Due to a Court of Appeals ruling regarding sentencing enhancements (Knudsen had a prior sex abuse conviction in Polk County, triggering the automatic life sentence), the new trial will seek to determine whether he received adequate counsel at his previous trial and whether he is “one and the same” as the man who was convicted then. Knudsen, now 41, lived in rural Cedar Falls before he was incarcerated. 
 

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