EDGARD, La.-A judge has ordered a 75-mile move for the trial of a man accused of killing two Louisiana sheriff's deputies in 2012 and disabling two others.
Brian Smith is scheduled for trial Feb. 15 on charges of murder and attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty on the murder charges.
Smith's lawyer said he couldn't get a fair trial in St. John the Baptist Parish.
Judge J. Sterling Snowdy has moved the trial to St. Martin Parish, The Advocate reported.
Smith and Kyle Joekel are both accused of killing Deputies Jeremy Triche and Brandon Nielsen and wounding Deputies Michael Boyington and Jason Triche, who are permanently disabled, in a shootout before dawn at a mobile home park on Aug. 16, 2012.
Witnesses said the incident began when Boyington, working a security detail, tried to pull Smith over. Smith drove away rather than show his driver's license, and the gunfight followed a chase, authorities said.
Joekel, the only other defendant facing a possible death penalty, is scheduled for a separate trial. It also will be moved.
Smith's father, Terry Smith, is also facing trial but not death. He's already serving life in an unrelated case.
Three other suspects pleaded guilty years ago as accessories.