The man accused of gunning down State Trooper Shawn Blanton will not be tried by a Haywood County jury.
Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Poovey made the decision just after 5 p.m. Monday.
He said he agreed with defense attorneys for 37-year-old Edwardo Wong that pretrial publicity would make it impossible to find an unbiased jury in Haywood County.
The judge has yet to decide whether the trial will be moved, or whether a jury will be bused in from another county.
State prosecutors want to keep the trial in Haywood County and have a jury bused in from Cherokee County.
Wong's attorneys want the entire trial moved to Gaston County, west of Charlotte.
Wong is facing first degree murder charges in the June 2008 death of Trooper Blanton.
The 24-year-old officer was gunned down during a traffic stop on Interstate 40.
Defense attorneys cited what they called excessive media coverage as the main reason behind their change of venue request.
To prove their point, they showed the judge 35 stories done by WLOS-TV, and nearly a full hour of coverage that aired over the past year.
Defense attorneys also presented newspaper articles, online blogs, and even an electronic message board from the funeral home that handled Shawn Blanton's funeral.
People made 341 comments on that website after Trooper Blanton's death, and another 170 comments when his four-month-old son, Tye, passed away.
The change of venue hearing will resume tomorrow in Haywood County.
Wong faces the death penalty if convicted in this case.
By Heather Graf
Posted at 6:45 pm on 6/29/09
No Haywood County Jury For Edwardo Wong
Posted: Monday, June 29 2009, 05:29 PM CDT
