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Judge To Rule On Change Of Venue In Trial Of Evan Schaffer

Last updated on Thursday, April 19, 2018

(BEDFORD) - Lawrence County Superior Court I Judge John Plummer III will rule on if he will allow a change of venue in the jury trial of accused murderer Evan Schaffer.

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Evan Schaffer

Lawrence County Chief Public Defender David Shircliff maintains 23-year-old Schaffer, who is accused of murdering 25-year-old Justin Lampkins of Bloomington during the early morning hours of April 23, 2017 in the drive-through of the Bedford McDonald's, can not receive a fair trial because of media coverage and social media posts.

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Justin Lampkins

Schaffer, of Orleans, is also facing charges of pointing a gun at Lampkins, carrying a handgun without a license and battery resulting in bodily injury.

During a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Plummer heard argument from Shircliff that numerous articles published in the Time-Mail and aired on 1340 AM WBIW and published on their website and Facebook page and articles on News Around the Counties also known as Lisa Front Porch News Around the Counties will not allow Schaffer to receive a fair trial.

According to testimony gathered by Times-Mail reporter Derrek Tipton, Shircliff says based on the submission of the Times-Mail and WBIW articles, almost every fact identified in all the stories is inaccurate when compared to video the court already has taken into evidence, but the reporting was done not at the fault of the news media, but at the fault of the people who were giving the press the information.

Shircliff says the press reported that Schaffer resisted arrest, when he was never charged with that crime.

Shircliff also says a Bedford Police Department officer was disciplined after the incident for her behavior that night and that a Bedford Police body camera depicts Bedford officers having Schaffer on the ground as they struck his head while demanding to know the location of the gun allegedly used in the shooting.

Shircliff says none of that information was released to the press or the resisting arrest was never retracted in news articles. Shircliff claims potential jurors from Lawrence County make take all these things as being true.

Shircliff would like a jury picked or the trial moved to somewhere like Vanderburgh or Marion counties

However Lawrence County Prosecutor Michelle Woodward disagrees and says a Supreme Court decision ruled there is no presumption of community bias based solely upon media coverage of the trial and the community reading newsworthy stories was not enough for change of venue.

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