Erica Lawson is so hated and her alleged crime so widely known in her home county that there's no way to ensure she can get a fair trial from jurors picked from the Bell County, Ky., area, her lawyers contend.
They've filed a motion, along with dozens of pages of exhibits, seeking a change of venue out of the southeast Kentucky area.
They say so much is known about the murder case that they can't rely on jurors who live anywhere within the Knoxville media market. WBIR, for example, is among numerous TV stations that have covered the case over the last 10 months.
Lawson is accused of murdering her toddler daughter Elena. Commonwealth's Attorney Lisa Fugate is seeking the death penalty when Lawson faces trial.
Her next court appearance is set for June.
Authorities said Elena suffered severe injuries in late July 2023 and was taken to Middlesboro ARH Hospital. Due to the extent of her injuries, she was flown to East Tennessee Children's Hospital.
Elena died July 30.
In a motion filed April 30 in Bell Circuit Court's Criminal Division, defense attorneys Gregory Coulson and Emily Croucher argue social media has been plastered with hateful messages excoriating Lawson and calling for her death.
False and outrageous allegations about her have spread far and wide on social media, they say.
According to the lawyers, Lawson is "reviled" in her home county. Potential jurors in the area have been "saturated" with press coverage about the case.
Even the chief prosecutor has used the the case in social media, including when she ran last year for a judgeship, according to the lawyers.
"It seems incredibly unlikely from review of the coverage alone that a resident of Bell County could not even be unaware of the case but be asked to fairly put aside any preconceptions," the motion states.
Courts typically try first to asses the potential jury pool to see if they can pull a panel from the home county. Questionnaires are one resource for testing the pool.
The defense argues there's no point; research already has shown emotions are high and widely biased against their client, they say.
People in Bell County believe in a fair trial for defendants, but in this case "that inclination is eroded by the prejudice of exposure in this case," the lawyers write.
"This undertaking will consume weeks of time by the court, the Commonwealth and defense counsel, for the likely result of a mistrial," according to the defense. "Rather than undertake a likely doomed mission, the defendant respectfully requests this court transfer this matter from Bell County and the Knoxville media market."
In the alternative, judges in Tennessee typically will go to a distant county in the state to pick a jury, then bus them back to the home county for trial.
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