Pittsburgh Police Officers Shot Dead At Suspect's Mother's House
POSTED: 11:09 am EDT October 21, 2009
UPDATED: 10:02 pm EDT October 21, 2009
PITTSBURGH -- Defense attorneys for Richard Poplawski -- who's accused of fatally shooting three Pittsburgh police officers at his mother's house -- say their client can't get a fair trial in Allegheny County and they want to move it somewhere else.
The request was made after Poplawski, 22, arrived at the county courthouse Wednesday for a rare pretrial appearance in a discovery hearing to go over the large amount of evidence in his case. While there, Poplawski waived his right to a speedy trial.
Video:
Watch Janelle Hall's Report
Poplawski, now bearded, did not speak as sheriff's deputies led him into Judge Jeffrey Manning's courtroom, where the judge heard arguments from defense attorneys and the district attorney's office.
After the defense asked Manning for a change of venue for Poplawski's pending trial, Manning called everyone into a jury room and conducted an unusual spontaneous test of 81 people in another jury pool.
Eight of the people who were asked said they hadn't heard about Poplawski's case. As for the others, half said they wouldn't be able to give him a fair hearing because of what they've read and seen about him and because they watched the slain officers' funeral procession, which was shown live on television and the Internet.
Manning will take what he learned Wednesday under consideration while he ponders the request to move the trial. He'll announce his decision at a later date. He also must decide if Poplawski will undergo more psychiatric evaluations.
An earlier hearing revealed
that the discovery evidence in Poplawski's case includes numerous CDs with many photos of the shooting scene in Stanton Heights, where officers Paul Sciullo, Stephen Mayhle and Eric Kelly were gunned down as they responded to a domestic call from Poplawski's mother in April.
Slideshow - Photos Of The Crime Scene, Victims, Standoff, Police Memorial
WTAE Channel 4's Bob Mayo reported that the evidence is so voluminous that there was a crime scene team for each room of the house and a report from each of those teams.
Poplawski eventually surrendered after a standoff that lasted several hours with dozens of rounds of ammunition fired from his home into the street outside. He's being held in the county jail with no bail.
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