Floyd trial still on

Published 2:00 am Saturday, August 24, 2013

Defense attorneys for Cedric Floyd did their best to get a change of venue for next months’ murder trial citing a large amount of media coverage on their client, but Circuit Judge Bert Rice put off that decision until attorneys begin questioning potential jurors next month.

Floyd, who has been charged with murder in the 2012 death of Tina Roshell Jones, will face trial on Sept. 16.

“We will not be constrained by time,” Rice said. “This case will be tried Sept. 16 and we will not be confined to a two-week trial in this case. It will continue. If there are any problems in this case, I want to know as soon as possible so that we don’t get to the eve of the trial and have problems. This case will be tried.”

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As defense attorneys Kevin McKinley and Chuck Jones presented their reason for a change of venue request, Rice told them no witnesses would be called. Defense counsel had subpoenaed publishers for each of the four county newspapers as well as the publisher for an online news source. None of the publishers were called to testify on Wednesday.

According to McKinley, the publishers were going to be questioned on the stories regarding cases against Floyd in each of the papers in addition to citing the circulation numbers for each publication.

Rice told the attorneys that changing the venue for the case slated for next month likely would not happen — unless potential jurors questioned in the selection process indicated that a fair and impartial conclusion could not be made in Floyd’s case.