NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Suspected subway shooter Frank James is trying to move his high-profile case to Chicago.
James' attorneys argue that it is impossible to find impartial jurors in New York City because of the constant media attention and Mayor Eric Adams' press conference, where he repeatedly said that "we got him," the Daily News reported.
"Mr. Frank James cannot receive a fair trial in the Eastern District of New York," James' lawyers said in their filing. "Prospective jurors in the Eastern District of New York have significantly prejudged Mr. James's guilt, admit that they will vote 'guilty' if serving on his jury without having heard a single witness, and are decidedly more hostile toward him than prospective jurors in a demographically comparable district."
According to the report, his Federal Defenders defense team even conducted a phone poll calling 400 potential jurors in the Brooklyn Federal Court jurisdiction and another 400 in Chicago.
"Local media has repeatedly characterized Mr. James as a terrorist, a maniac, a raving madman and an unhinged nihilist obsessed with killing and hatred, none of which will be admissible," his lawyers, Mia Eisner-Grynberg and Amanda David, said in court papers.
The filing was part of a number of motions, including one to dismiss federal charges, arguing that the federal terrorism law "limits its reach to acts committed on specified property used to support the operation of the subways, which does not include subway cars themselves."
James is accused of setting off smoke bombs and shooting 10 people on a busy N train as it approached the 36th St. station in Sunset Park in April. The shooting victims all survived.
He is charged with committing a terrorist attack on a mass transit system and discharging a firearm during a crime of violence and faces a trial starting in February.
John Marzulli, a spokesman for Eastern District of New York U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, declined to comment to the outlet Tuesday.
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