Judge to Decide on Trial Relocation in John Feit Case "Sometime Next Week"

By Freddy Vela
ValleyCentral.com
May 25, 2017

http://valleycentral.com/news/local/judge-to-decide-on-trial-relocation-in-john-feit-case-sometime-next-week

Former priest John Feit, who is accused of allegedly killing Irene Garza in April of 1960, was back in court on Wednesday.

Feit’s attorneys motioned to get the trial moved outside of the Rio Grande Valley, claiming the jury has an unfair bias due to pre-trial media coverage of Feit’s case.

The defense presented two witnesses and a pre-trial expert in an attempt to show how much Hidalgo County residents know about the 1960 murder.

The prosecution argued that most cases receive media coverage, and residents are able to separate personal opinions and offer a fair, unbiased judgement during the case. The prosecution also tried to discredit the expert after the expert referenced the 2014 district attorney race and a 48 Hours report.

Judge Luis M. Singleterry said more time would be needed to make a decision.

"I don't anticipate having reached a decision with all this until sometime next week, but I will inform you as soon as I do," Singleterry said.

If the request to move the trial is denied, a pretrial date has been set for July 19. The preliminary trial date has been set for Sept. 11.