Change of Venue Denied in Murder Trial of Grocer
A request for a change of venue was denied Monday in the case of a Korean-American grocer accused of murdering an unarmed African-American girl in South Los Angeles.
In making the request, attorneys for the grocer, Soon Ja Du, said selecting an impartial jury would be difficult because of extensive media coverage of the shooting. The trial would be held in Compton Superior Court, which has jurisdiction over the South Los Angeles neighborhood where 15-year-old Latasha Harlins was shot to death by Du on March 16.
The prosecutor in the case characterized the request as an attempt by the defense to prolong the preliminary hearing. Presiding Judge Lois Anderson Smaltz rejected the motion to transfer the case to the downtown courthouse. The decision on selecting jurors from a pool outside of Compton will be left to the trial judge. The hearing preliminaries were scheduled to continue Aug. 26.
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