Sniper Trial may move to Va Beach!

[mamadude]

Breaking News: Judge scouts Virginia Beach as possible site for sniper trial
Published reports say Judge will also visit Chesapeake courts

06/12/2003

Associated Press




AP
FAIRFAX, Va. (AP) -- The judge presiding over the Lee Boyd Malvo sniper trial met this week with court officials in Virginia Beach to discuss the possibility of moving the trial there.

Circuit Judge Jane Marum Roush heard arguments June 2 on defense lawyers' request to move the trial out of Fairfax County. The defense lawyers argue that, because every resident of Fairfax County was a potential victim of last year's sniper spree, that it will be impossible to get a fair jury here.

Roush has not ruled on the request, which is opposed by prosecutors. She said she will make her decision in the next three weeks.

Roush met with several court officials this week in Virginia Beach to discuss the logistics of a potential move, said Virginia Beach Circuit Court clerk J. Curtis Fruit.

Roush emphasized several times during the meeting that she has not yet made up her mind about whether to grant a change of venue, Fruit said.

"I got the impression certainly that no decision had been made," he said. "She just wanted to get a feel for what is here."

While Fruit said his office would deal with anything that comes his way, but he would prefer the trial went somewhere else.

"I don't want that thing here, no way," said Fruit, an elected official who is nearing the completion of his third eight-year term as circuit court clerk. "If I was the one making the decision, I would not invite the world into our courthouse. ... Why would you want something like that?"

Fruit said his primary concern would be the logistical nightmare that would necessarily follow a lengthy trial that will draw hundreds of reporters and spectators. He also said that he suspected the Virginia Beach courthouse, while relatively new, has small courtrooms that would not lend themselves to a trial with such massive public interest.

The only other jurisdiction that Fruit had heard discussed was neighboring Chesapeake, which he said has larger courtrooms. The Washington Post, citing anonymous sources, reported that Roush plans to visit Chesapeake.

Court officials in Chesapeake were unavailable for comment Thursday.

Because last year's sniper spree stretched all the way down the Interstate 95 corridor to the Richmond suburbs, the number of potential venues is limited. Defense lawyer Craig Cooley said earlier this month that a change of venue would be ineffective unless the trial were moved south of Richmond. He said the Hampton Roads area would be acceptable.

Early on in the case, defense lawyer Michael Arif said he had rumors that if the trial were moved, it might go to southwest Virginia, specifically Roanoke or Grundy. It is unclear if those locations are under any serious consideration.

Malvo, 18, and fellow suspect John Allen Muhammad, 42, have been linked to 20 shootings, including 13 deaths, in Virginia, Maryland, Georgia, Alabama, Louisiana and Washington, D.C., last year. Both face the death penalty.

Muhammad's lawyers have not yet asked for a change in venue from Prince William County, where he is scheduled for trial in October.

Lt. Tyler Corey, a spokesman for the Fairfax County Sheriff's Office, said the sheriff is not involved in the decision over whether to move the trial. While Fairfax County could provide any assistance requested from a different venue, he said the new venue would be responsible for courtroom security and similar matters.

Corey said the sheriff is hopeful the trial will remain in Fairfax. The sheriff has already begun preparations for handling the media and has a good system in place for transporting Malvo from jail to court.

"We think we can handle the job," he said. "We're in a groove right now."

[mf_dolphin]

Where ever they have the trial I hope they have a big oak tree close by for the hanging!