PHOENIX – The trial of two men accused in a string of random late night shootings will remain in Phoenix, for now.
Maricopa County Superior Court Judge James H. Keppel rejected a motion from lawyers for Dale S. Hausner to move the trial outside the county. His arrest Aug. 3 drew intense local and national media coverage.
Keppel said it's too early to decide whether potential jurors in Maricopa received too much information about the case to give Hausner a fair trial.
"The time to decide whether there's too much media coverage should be decided shortly before the trial," Keppel said at a hearing Friday.
Hausner, 33, is charged with two counts of murder and 14 counts of attempted murder as part of a shooting spree this summer. His roommate, Samuel John Dieteman, 30, also is charged in connection with the crimes.
Keppel said he would decide later on another motion to prohibit authorities from talking about the investigation.
Also Friday, the judge granted a request from lawyers for The Associated Press and The Arizona Republic to release five search warrants that had been heavily edited to remove what police believe to be sensitive information.
In the search warrants, police said Hausner may have kept information about the shootings hidden in a rented storage unit.
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