PITTSBURGH — A judge decided Wednesday jurors in the trial of a man accused of fatally shooting three police officers should come from another county, citing "pervasive, prejudicial pretrial publicity" surrounding the case.

The date of the trial has yet to be determined, and prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred about a deadline to decide whether Richard Poplawski, 23, will claim legal insanity.

Allegheny County Judge Jeffrey Manning polled 90 people serving jury duty Wednesday and found just five had not heard about the case. Pittsburgh officers Paul J. Sciullo II, Stephen J. Mayhle and Eric G. Kelly were gunned down responding to a disturbance reported by Poplawski's mother, and a three-hour standoff ensued when he allegedly shot at nine other officers, wounding one.

Eighty-five jurors raised their hands to say they knew about the case from the media and other sources, and 52 of those said they had already formed an opinion about Poplawski's guilt or innocence.

Two jury polls in October and December produced similar results, prompting Manning to order an out-of-county jury because of the media publicity involving the killings. Manning said that has been exacerbated by coverage of several other shootings in which police were killed, because the Pittsburgh shootings tend to be mentioned in those stories, too — including the Jan. 13 slaying of Franklin state Trooper Paul Richey by a suicidal gunman.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court must select the county from which jurors will be bused to Pittsburgh for the trial.