An Ohio judge has denied the request to move the trial of a former police officer who fatally shot Andre Hill back in December.
According to the Associated Press, Franklin County Judge Stephen McIntosh ruled on Wednesday (Aug. 18) that Adam Coy’s upcoming October murder trial will remain in Columbus. In June, Attorney Mark Collins argued that the trial should be moved due to the extensive local and national coverage of the shooting. He said that the publicity will make it impossible to create an impartial jury for the trial.
However, Assistant Ohio Attorney General Anthony Pierson opposed the request because he said there was no reason to believe that people in other areas of the country were less likely to have read about the case than people who are local.
Judge McIntosh agreed with Pierson in his ruling, writing, “Therefore, where can the case be tried where some media scrutiny does not exist?”
Last December, Hill was fatally shot while Coy and another cop responded to a call that a man had been sitting in his vehicle for a long time, frequently turning his engine on and off. Within seconds of arriving at the scene, Coy shot and killed Hill as he walked toward the officer with nothing but a cellphone in his hand. Coy turned his bodycam off after the shooting.
He was later fired from the police department for Hill’s death and charged with murder, reckless homicide, two counts of felony assault and two counts of dereliction of duty. Coy has pleaded not guilty to the aforementioned charges.
Back in May, the city of Columbus agreed to pay Hill’s family a $10 million settlement for his death, becoming the largest amount the city has ever agreed to pay. Coy’s trial is set to begin on Oct. 4.