GOLDEN, Colo.—Lawyers for a teen accused of killing a 10-year-old schoolgirl asked a judge Thursday to move the trial out of Jefferson County, but the judge said he’d prefer to decide once potential jurors are questioned.
Austin Sigg cannot get a fair trial because of publicity surrounding the Jessica Ridgeway murder case, his lawyers argued. They cited a sampling of potential jurors in Jefferson County, many of whom said they could identify Sigg as the man arrested in Jessica’s murder, The Denver Post reported Thursday ( ).
Jefferson County District Court Chief Justice Stephen M. Munsinger said he wants to rule on any change of venue after potential jurors are questioned. Munsinger also rejected a motion to postpone the trial.
Opening arguments are set for Oct. 3. Munsinger said he plans to initially summon 840 prospective jurors.
Sigg, 18, has pleaded not guilty to kidnapping, killing and dismembering Jessica in October. Jessica disappeared shortly after leaving her Westminster home to walk to school. Parts of her body were discovered days later in an Arvada field.
Sigg’s lawyers on Thursday presented a survey of potential jurors conducted by Talmey-Drake Research. Some 19 percent of 303 Jefferson County respondents said they could identify Sigg as the man arrested in the case, it said. Some 16 percent of respondents who live elsewhere in the Denver metropolitan area reported associating Sigg with the case.
Sigg is charged with murder, kidnapping, sexual assault and robbery, as well as three counts of sexual exploitation of a child after authorities said they found child pornography during the investigation. Detectives say he has confessed to killing Jessica but denied sexually assaulting her.
If convicted, he would face life in prison with the possibility of parole after 40 years. He cannot face the death penalty because he was 17 at the time of the slaying.
Sigg also has denied charges stemming from an attack on a 22-year-old jogger at a Westminster lake in May 2012.
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Information from: The Denver Post,
