The state has filed a response in the latest-back and-forth over a potential gag order for the attorneys of Nichole Rice, the woman charged in the 2007 death of Anita Knutson.

The response pushed back against Rice’s attorney’s defenses for contracting the third-party company Veracity IIR to author and distribute a survey to assess potential jurors among Ward County residents. Defense counsel attorney Philip Becher had previously argued precedent supports the use of the survey to assess the likelihood that his client will be able to get a fair trial before a jury of Ward County residents due to media coverage, including a specific article from The Minot Daily News covering the press conference at which Minot Police Chief John Klug announced the arrest in the long cold case.

Assistant State’s Attorney Stephenie Davis’ response argued that while the prosecution doesn’t deny media coverage of the case, the Ward County State’s Attorney’s Office staff have abided by a strict policy of providing no comment to local, state and national media entities, such as the national broadcast program “20/20.” Davis pointed out that despite national productions such as “Cold Justice” drawing a lot of attention to the case, they haven’t provided any new information to the public sphere in the prolonged lead up to the trial.

“One of the comments on the Minot Whiners and Complainers 2.0 Facebook post about the Knutson/Rice Survey was a request that someone tell this person about the case,” Davis said. “This indicates not everyone in Ward County is aware of or knows about the Knutson murder to a degree which would result in disqualification due to bias.”

The state disputed Becher’s description of the final question of the survey, with Assistant State’s Attorney Tiffany Sorgen saying she was unsure whether the possible answers to a question regarding Rice’s potential guilt included an option of “unsure.” However, screen captures of the survey taken by The Minot Daily News when the survey was live does corroborate the inclusion of this third option in addition to “innocent” and “guilty.” Davis also took issue with the survey’s use of Rice’s booking photo in the preview link, which she said could create an implicit bias of guilt, inflaming the potential jury pool by using an unflattering image.

In conclusion, the state indicated the larger consequence of the survey itself is the increased attention and public interest its release and the dispute over it has created, which it believes could unintentionally bring about the very bias the defense claims it is trying to avoid.

“Defense, in creating the ‘public poll’ through surveymonkey.com and placing advertisements on social media, claims it was simply following court direction to determine the degree of bias held by citizens of Ward County,” Davis said. “Case law does not support Defense’s use of this survey and it should be barred from any further use of the media to create a firestorm before trial.”

In an affidavit filed in support, Sorgen attested to her statements and recollections in the response, adding that she has been contacted by acquaintances residing outside of Ward County who say they have seen the posts and advertisements about the Knutson/Rice Survey, which appeared primarily on Facebook and Twitter.

No further filings or hearings were scheduled in district court as of Monday, nor have there been any additional filings, responses or orders from Judge Richard Hagar. Court records still show the next scheduled hearing is a pre-trial conference Sept. 27 at 11 a.m.