Prosecutors oppose change of venue for Rudolph
Defense: Pretrial publicity has tainted potential jury pool
 |
Eric Robert Rudolph's defense attorneys say he can't get a fair trial in Birmingham.
Story Tools
YOUR E-MAIL ALERTS
|
Follow the news that matters to you. Create your own alert to be notified on topics you're interested in.
Or, visit Popular Alerts for suggestions.
|
|
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- Prosecutors in the case against the man accused in a string of bombings filed a motion late Friday arguing he could get a fair trial in Birmingham, Alabama, in response to a defense motion asking for a change of venue.
Eric Robert Rudolph's attorneys filed the motion two weeks ago, saying a fair trial was impossible in Birmingham.
Rudolph is charged with bombing a clinic that performs abortions in Birmingham in January 1998. An off-duty police officer working as a security guard at the New Woman All Women Clinic was killed by the blast, and a nurse was maimed.
Rudolph was caught May 31, 2003, after a manhunt that lasted more than five years. Rudolph also faces charges in Georgia in connection with a string of bombings in Atlanta, including the Centennial Park blast during the 1996 Olympics. One person died in the blast.
The defense team argued that a change of venue was necessary because of intense media coverage since the Birmingham clinic bombing. Rudolph's lawyers said some of the reporting, "sensationalistic and based, in part, on inaccurate information from law enforcement," made finding a fair and impartial jury impossible.
But in the prosecution response, U.S. Attorney Alice Martin argued that local publicity was no different or more prejudicial from what was reported nationwide, which is one of the key legal tests for any change-of-venue motion. The prosecution argued that its review of the publicity in Birmingham found it to be factual.
In her brief, Martin also said most of the publicity surrounding the case occurred six years ago, at the time of the clinic bombing, which "strongly mitigates the effects of the pretrial publicity in this case and suggests that a transfer was not warranted."
In a brief filed Friday, Rudolph's attorneys argued that any jury would decide "whether to set Mr. Rudolph free, put him in prison until he dies, or to kill him."
"It is not too much to ask that this jury be free of any 'reasonable likelihood' of prejudice."
When the defense filed its change-of-venue motion, it said that its polling data indicated that Rudolph could not receive a fair trial in the Northern District of Alabama, which includes Birmingham.
The defense said its data showed that with only minor prompting, 97 percent of those polled said they were aware of the case and 65 percent said Rudolph was either definitely or probably guilty.
The defense did not specify a place it would like to see the trial held, but argued earlier this week that neither Alabama nor Tennessee would be appropriate.
