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The jury trial for the former Albert Lea High School counselor accused of criminal sexual conduct with a student is again being moved as lawyers argue whether evidence obtained from his prior school district should be allowed to be presented during the trial.

The trial for Richard John Polley, 34, had been slated to begin Sept. 18. The new trial date has not yet been set.

Polley faces one count of third-degree criminal sexual conduct, including penetration, of a student from a prohibited occupational relationship. Court documents allege the student initially went to Polley as a counselor at school to talk if something was bothering her or to make changes to her schedule. In December 2021 they became friends and started talking on Snapchat, and the sexual activity reportedly happened at Polley’s house in January 2022. After allegations emerged, the Albert Lea school board voted to terminate Polley from his position after an internal investigation. The school investigation found evidence to support the allegations and also found that Polley had falsified parts of his district job application and that he had actually been asked to resign from the South Washington County Schools district to avoid termination. He reportedly signed a resignation agreement and release of all claims, though the investigation did not release the nature of the allegations.

Polley’s lawyer, Patrick Cotter, said in court Friday that his motion to exclude the evidence from the South Washington County School District investigation had not yet been ruled on. He also argued whether the search warrant to obtain Polley’s HR file from the district had been legally obtained.

If the warrant was legally obtained, the question then becomes to what capacity the file can be used in the trial, Cotter said.

District Court Judge Christy Hormann ordered both the defense and prosecution submit briefs on the issue, and she would issue an order. The defense must submit their brief by Sept. 29, with the prosecution to follow Oct. 23.

The judge can have up to 30 days after that to issue the ruling.

Assistant County Attorney Abigail Ehret filed four exhibits with the court pertaining to the information obtained from the South Washington County District so the judge could review the nature of the information before the ruling.

The exhibits are marked confidential and thus not available for review by the public at this time.

Hormann said she hoped the trial could be in January, though the date has not yet been set.

Ehret estimated the trial could last a week and a half because of the number of witnesses.