A change of venue for accused murderer Courtney Lockhart will be necessary to ensure he gets a fair trial, his appointed defense attorney Joel Collins said Wednesday.
“I think it’s a given because of all the publicity,” Collins said. “And you’ve got Auburn University there and how strongly they’re behind the family of the decedent. I hate it for the family, but my job is to represent the defendant and make sure he gets a fair trial.”
Lee County District Attorney Nick Abbett said discussion of a change of venue was “premature” at this point.
“A change of venue is not something you can do until you get a jury up there and find out whether publicity has been so pervasive the defendant can’t get a fair trial,” Abbett said. “… That’s a long time down the road.”
Lockhart, 23, of Smiths Station, is charged with three counts of capital murder in the March 4 death of Auburn University freshman Lauren Burk, 18, of Marietta, Ga.
Collins said he had heard strong sentiment in the community about the case.
“I know there is no way you could pick people from Lee County and (they would) not be biased and believe what’s already been said,” he said.
Collins said he thought many people forget that a person is innocent until proven guilty.
“A lot of people take what the police say and already make up their mind, which under the circumstances would make it very difficult to get a fair trial in Lee County,” he said.
Collins said he had not seen the police reports that say Lockhart confessed the murder to police.
“I haven’t had a chance to read the statement yet or discuss them with my client,” he said.
Lockhart is charged with capital murder during a robbery, capital murder during a kidnapping and capital murder during a rape.
According to the affidavits read aloud during Lockhart’s initial court appearance Monday, Lockhart told police that he robbed and kidnapped Burk on the AU campus, then drove her in her car, forced her to remove her clothes, shot her with a handgun, drove her car back to campus and set the vehicle on fire.
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