JOPLIN, Mo. (AP) - A judge has denied a change of venue request for a man accused of shooting an assistant football coach to death outside a Joplin movie complex.
The Joplin Globe reports (https://bit.ly/QvEFxG ) that Circuit Judge Gayle Crane has denied the venue change for 40-year-old Jeffrey Bruner, who’s charged in the Nov. 1 death of 37-year-old Derek Moore. Moore was a newly hired coach at Missouri Southern State University when he was shot to death outside the theater complex.
Bruner is charged with first-degree murder and armed criminal action, and remains jailed on $1 million bond.
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Bruner’s lawyer, Ross Rhoades, claimed pretrial publicity as the reason for seeking the change of venue from Jasper County Circuit Court.
Prosecutors argued that pretrial publicity doesn’t require a change of venue, and the judge agreed.
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Information from: The Joplin (Mo.) Globe, https://www.joplinglobe.com
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