Rochester, MN (KROC-AM News) - A trial date has been set in the case of the former state trooper charged with causing the death of an Owatonna High School student in a crash last year in Rochester.

The schedule for the criminal proceedings against 33-year-old Shane Roper was set today during his first court appearance since an Olmsted County judge denied his request to dismiss all of the felony charges stemming from the deadly collision between his State Patrol squad car and another vehicle at the entrance to Apache Mall last May. The Hayfield man is charged with second-degree manslaughter, criminal vehicular homicide, five counts of criminal vehicular operation, and gross misdemeanor reckless driving.

READ MORE: Former State Trooper Loses Bid to Dismiss Charges for Fatal Crash

It is alleged that he was driving the squad car at speeds exceeding 80 mph without the emergency lights activated when he collided with the other vehicle, resulting in the death of 18-year-old Olivia Flores. Roper and the other occupants of the second vehicle suffered serious injuries in the crash.

The judge presiding over the high-profile case scheduled jury selection to begin in early March of next year. A pretrial hearing is scheduled to take place in late February.

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Prior to that, the judge has scheduled a settlement conference and a motion hearing in August. It is expected that Roper’s defense attorney will use the hearing to argue for a change of venue to move the trial to another location in Minnesota. An earlier motion argued that the “excessive amount of pretrial publicity surrounding the case” has tainted the pool of potential jurors and would prevent a fair trial in Olmsted County.

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