MARSHALL, Minn. (AP) — Lawyers have filed a motion for acquittal or a new trial for a woman convicted of driving a van that crashed into a school bus and killed four students last winter near Cottonwood.

A jury in Kandiyohi County found Olga Marina Franco Del Cid, who lived in Minneota when the crash happened, guilty on Aug. 6 of 24 charges, including four counts of criminal vehicular homicide. Franco, an illegal immigrant from Guatemala, is still facing federal charges related to identity theft.
Franco’s lawyers, Manuel Guerrero and Neal Eisenbraun, filed an 85-page document in Lyon County District Court last Friday but the documents were not publicized until Thursday.

The motion and supporting documents say Lyon County prosecutors provided inconclusive evidence during the trial that Franco was the driver of the van. Franco testified her boyfriend was driving. Emergency responders found Franco behind the steering wheel, her right foot wedged under the dashboard near the accelerator. Her attorneys argued that the impact threw her into the driver’s seat.

Guerrero and Eisenbraun also say Lyon County Attorney Rick Maes “repeatedly elicited improper testimony” from prosecution witnesses “despite multiple admonitions” from Judge David Peterson. They also say the prosecution withheld information about several witnesses.

The motion also mentions the victims from Lakeview School and their families.

“No reasonable person can fault the families for believing the jury’s decision was right and just,” the documents said, but, “they will not fault the court for rectifying this verdict’s injustice.”

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