A lawyer for a white Montgomery police officer charged with murdering a black man is asking a judge to move the officer's trial out of the city.
Officer Aaron Cody Smith's lawyer will try to persuade a Montgomery County judge later today that Smith won't receive a fair trial in Montgomery because of the protests and intense media coverage related to the case.
Attorney Mickey McDermott says Smith has received death threats after last year’s fatal shooting of 58-year-old Greg Gunn. He filed a motion in December to change the location of the proceedings.
Prosecutors have opposed moving the trial out of Montgomery.
Authorities say the officer fatally shot Gunn as he walked home late at night last February.