A Danville teenager waived his right to a jury trial Monday for charges he faces in a July 11 shooting that killed Latoya Hubbard and injured a 19-year-old.
Tremon Antonio Wimbush, 19, is charged with first-degree murder, among three other charges in the shooting.
During proceedings, a defense attorney filed to change the venue because of pre-trial publicity.
Larry Gott represented Wimbush and argued the change of venue motion before Andrea Long replaced him as counsel. Gott argued that Wimbush would not receive a free and impartial jury because of the Danville Register & Bee and WSET-TV’s news coverage of the July 11 shooting and a July 22 news conference.
Gott played a portion of a WSET-TV newscast that showed Danville Police Chief Philip Broadfoot saying Wimbush is the leader of a local gang that broke into houses. The comments came during a news con-ference the police department held.
Commonwealth’s Attorney Bill Fuller said he opposed the motion to move the trial from Danville, and he could not defend Broadfoot’s statements.
Police have not filed any gang-related charges against Wimbush, Fuller said. Court records show that Wimbush will be tried Friday for possession of stolen goods on July 2.
Fuller added that he would try Wimbush for the charges the defendant faced and not for the gang asso-ciations that Broadfoot mentioned.
Broadfoot was not available for comment.
Judge Melesco took the motion under advisement, but it became irrelevant after Wimbush waived his right to a jury trial. Fuller did not oppose the waiver of a jury because it would keep the proceedings in Danville.
Long represented Wimbush after Gott argued his motion. She filed a motion to continue the trial Monday and represented Wimbush during his decision to waive a jury trial. Fuller also opposed the continuance.
The judge granted a one-day continuance during proceedings Monday. The bench trial will start Nov. 17.
Melesco said he would arrange for a judge from another jurisdiction to hear the case, if the defense wished. Fuller said after the proceedings that he thought Melesco would remain on the bench Nov. 17.
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