Teen Charged With Killing Danvers Teacher Wants Trial Moved
SALEM, Mass. (AP) — Lawyers for a Massachusetts teenager charged with killing his high school math teacher have asked a judge to move their client's trial out of eastern Massachusetts, saying it will be difficult to pick an impartial jury given the large amount of publicity the case has received.
A lawyer for 16-year-old Philip Chism said in court Tuesday that media coverage of the case has been "pervasive," ''sensational" and "inflammatory."
The defense suggests moving the trial to western Massachusetts. Chism attended the hearing but did not speak.
He has pleaded not guilty to killing Danvers High teacher Colleen Ritzer in October 2013, when he was 14.
His trial is scheduled to start in October.
Prosecutors oppose moving the trial.
The judge did not immediately rule but indicated he may rule later this week.
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