Outside jury mulled in police shooting trial
PITTSBURGH — A judge is considering a request to pick jurors from another county for the trial of a man accused of fatally shooting three Pittsburgh police officers.
Attorneys for 22-year-old Richard Poplawski don't believe he can get a fair trial in Allegheny County because jurors would know too much about the case.
To test that theory Wednesday, County Judge Jeffrey Manning polled 81 jurors already summoned for other cases. Of those 81, only eight say they aren't aware of Poplawski's case. And 45 say they have a fixed opinion about what the verdict should be.
Poplawski allegedly shot and killed officers Paul Sciullo II, Stephen Mayhle and Eric Kelly when they responded to a disturbance his mother reported April 4.
