Adams moves for change of venue

A motion hearing has been set for Monday, March 25 to deal with motions filed by the attorney of Jeffery Adams regarding the Marquette man’s first degree murder case. Judge Christina M. Marroquin set the hearing to deal with various motions including a motion for a change of venue filed by Adams’s defense attorney, Matthew McDonald. Adams is set to face a jury trial in June for the murder of his wife, Angela in their home on Feb. 26, 2023. 
In a motion filed by McDonald on March 7, the attorney moved the court to change the venue for the trial to Saunders County “or another county a substantial distance from Hamilton County using jurors from a county other than Hamilton County for defendant’s trial.” 
The motion stated that McDonald was taking the action under state law and also referenced the sixth and 14th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution which guarantee the right to “a fair trial and impartial jury.”
“Pretrial publicity and misconduct by an unknown person makes it impossible to secure a fair and impartial jury in Hamilton County,” the motion stated. “There has been numerous news articles and television reports regarding the case in the local media that reaches Hamilton county including updates on the Hamilton county Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.”
The document went on to state that out of the 108 potential jurors, many said they knew about the case and couldn’t set aside their opinion and couldn’t be fair and impartial. Furthermore, the motion stated that 11 of the potential jurors had themselves been victims of domestic violence “which is the basis of the underlying charges in this case.” 
The motion also referenced an unknown person who allegedly posed as the Hamilton County Clerk Magistrate and emailed a “potential defense witness” on May 26, 2023. The document alleged that the individual “was clearly attempting to get information about this case by contacting a potential defense witness who was a friend of the defendant.” 
McDonald stated in the motion that for that reason the trial should be moved out of Hamilton County. 
“The trial court cannot ensure defendant will receive a fair trial and an impartial jury since we do not know if one of the potential jurors in Hamilton County was the person that posed as the Clerk Magistrate attempting to get information from a friend of the defendant,” the motion stated. 
On March 12 McDonald also filed a motion in limine as the court to exclude a snapshot of a text message that is not complete between the defendant and another unnamed person. 
The hearing is scheduled to be held in Saunders County Court to accommodate the judge’s schedule at a hearing held last October Adams, who remains in custody at the Hamilton County Jail, waived his right to be present at the hearing. 
Adams’s jury trial on charges of first degree murder is set to begin June 10 and is expected to last 10 days.