Kaitlyn Conley Hires Attorneys After DA Plans Case for Grand Jury

Kaitlyn Conley has officially hired attorneys to represent her in a possible third trial, if an Oneida County Grand Jury indicts her again in the 2015 poisoning death of chiropractor Mary Yoder. 

Oneida County District Attorney Todd Carville announced on WIBX's Keeler Show on April 17th, that his office has decided to present the case once again to an Oneida County  Grand Jury after Conley's manslaughter conviction was overturned at the Appellate Division level. Conley is currently free and has no charges or convictions against her at this time. However, that freedom could change at some point over the next few months, if she's indicted.

Attorney Melissa K. Swartz, who handled Conley's case in Appellate Court, told WIBX she has been retained by Conley's family to represent her in the event that an Oneida County Grand Jury decides to indict the 31-year-old Sauquoit native. Conley's story has been featured on several national media outlets, as well as being involved in three different documentaries that are currently streaming.

Conley was originally charged with murder in 2017 and that trial ended in a hung jury. She was convicted later that year on a lesser charge, second degree manslaughter, which is the conviction that was overturned earlier this year that carried a 23 year sentence in state prison. She has already spent more than seven years in jail, and has maintained her innocence since she was first accused of the murder.

Swartz cautioned there was little she could say about the possible upcoming case. "They (the District Attorney's office) haven't shown us their cards, I'm not going to show them ours," said Swartz. She was asked if she felt that the fact that this case has been so highly publicized, if that makes it difficult to find a jury, and whether it could lead to a change of venue?

"If this gets indicted and the person they indict is Katey, we all know the Oneida County Court Judges aren't alble to handle this case, so we're going to have an outside judge. So the question is whether or not the entire case moves to that county. The law on that is difficult. Difficult for criminal defendants to overcome so a lot of times if you selected a jury or attempted to select a jury, an application to change venue would be premature," Swartz said. "That's usually what you see from the Appellate Division. When I was on the other side (prosecution) I was involved in a case that was tried twice that was extremely high profile, Dr. Newlander, if anybody remembers that case. The change of venue really didn't go anywhere on that one."

DA Todd Carville said the case will be handled by Executive Administrative Assistant Laurie Lisi and he and others will assist. Carville said that the Yoder family deserves justice, which was one of the main factors in making the decision to prosecute Conley again.

Meanwhile, Conley's family has spent tens of thousands of dollars on the previous two trials against her, as well as multiple appeals. A listener asked Swartz how the family is paying for this third possible phase of a prosecution and Swartz quickly said she was unable to disclose that information. Listeners have previously floated the idea of a defense fund, possibly through Go Fund Me, but there has been no activity on that website. The website Free Kaitlyn Conley is still active and asks for the public's support in sharing the message and a related Facebook page has had no activity since October of 2024.

No other information is available regarding the DA's intentions or when the case will be presented to a grand jury.

Watch the complete interview below on WIBX's Keeler YouTube channel.