Trial For Accused Cop Killer Set For January 2015
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The man accused of shooting and killing a Mendota Heights police officer attended court in in Dakota County on Wednesday.
According to the Dakota County Attorney's Office, Brian Fitch Sr. had a pretrial hearing that dealt with the admissibility of evidence in the case.
Fitch Sr. was captured in July after an eight-hour manhunt. He's accused of killing Officer Scott Patrick during a traffic stop. In October, he pleaded not guilty to killing Patrick despite admitting to the crime while being treated for several gunshot wounds in the hospital.
He was taken into custody after being shot eight times. Fitch's attorney says that confession should be thrown out, claiming investigators never read him his Miranda rights. His attorney is also asking for Fitch's trial to be moved outside of the Twin Cities because of all the media attention.
In a new survey by the National Jury Project, a legal consulting firm, they interviewed more than 250 randomly selected possible jurors if the case were to stay in Dakota County. The results, as reported by the Pioneer Press, show about 90 percent said they've already heard about the case through the news or by word of mouth.
Nearly 85 percent said they already thought Fitch was "probably" or "definitely guilty."
The prosecution and defense lawyers made their arguments at in Hastings Wednesday morning.
The Dakota County Attorney's Office said the defense filed several motions with the court, including a request for a change of venue.
The defense also filed a motion to sever the cases so there would be separate cases for the offenses committed in Ramsey County and those committed in Dakota County.
According to the Dakota County Attorney's Office, the judge took all of the motions under advisement and is hopes to make a ruling on the motions fairly soon.
The trial is set to begin Jan. 12, 2015.
