Jeremy Giefer will face jury trial this Christmas

By Andy Mannix Tue., Aug. 16 2011 at 11:20 AM

Categories: T-Paw

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Jeremy Giefer was charged with 11 counts of sexual misconduct last year.

It's shaping up to be a tense holiday season at the Giefer household this year.

Jeremy Giefer, the sex offender pardoned in 2008 by then-Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, will face a jury trial beginning December 19 for allegedly sexually assaulting his young daughter regularly for years.

At a pretrial hearing Monday, Mark Kelly, Giefer's attorney, disputed DNA evidence introduced by the prosecution, arguing that the samples don't match the victim.

"The victim is not a contributor to the sample," he said, according to the Mankato Free Press. "That's a big zero for them."

Asst. Blue Earth County Prosecutor Mike Hanson wouldn't elaborate on the DNA samples.

Jeremy Giefer received a pardon from a committee, which included then-Gov. Tim Pawlenty, in 2008.

"I'm not going to comment about the evidence in a pending criminal matter," he says.

Giefer was first charged with statutory rape in 1993, when he was 19 years old, for fathering a child with his 14-year-old girlfriend. He pleaded guilty and served a 45-day sentence.

Fifteen years later, Giefer requested a pardon extraordinary for his crimes, arguing he did the right thing by marrying the victim and raising their child, and he shouldn't have to continue through life branded as a sex offender.

A committee that included Pawlenty bought the argument and granted the pardon in 2008.

Two years later, Giefer was charged with 11 counts of sexual misconduct. The daughter, identified only as C.G. in the complaint, described the alleged abuse in great detail to police. One of many troubling excerpts:

"C.G. stated that when she was 13 years old, she wanted to go somewhere; and her dad would tell her to do a sexual favor consisting of a blow job or intercourse and then she would be allowed to go."

The trial will likely last four to five days, both attorneys agreed in court Monday, meaning a verdict could be decided just in time for Christmas.

Pawlenty's PardonGate

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