Orange County judge rejects change of venue in Adenhart case

An Orange County judge denied a motion Friday to move the trial of a driver accused of killing Angels pitcher Nick Adenhart and two of his friends, rejecting the argument that the defendant can’t get a fair trial in the county where Adenhart played baseball.

“I’m confident a fair jury can be selected to hear this matter,” Orange County Superior Court Judge Richard Toohey said.

An attorney for Andrew Thomas Gallo had requested that the trial be moved outside Orange County given the publicity surrounding the ballplayer’s death.

Gallo is charged with three counts of murder, driving under the influence, hit and run, and driving with a suspended license. According to prosecutors, Gallo ran a red light and crashed into a car driven by Courtney Stewart at a Fullerton intersection. Police said he had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19% — more than twice the legal limit — when he was tested two hours later.

Adenhart, 22; Stewart, 20; and Henry Pearson, 25, were killed in the accident. A third friend, Jon Wilhite, was severely injured.

The judge left open the possibility of hearing the motion again if there is difficulty seating a jury. Gallo, who remains in custody, faces 55 years to life in prison if convicted on all counts. Trial is set for later this month.

Adenhart had pitched for the Angels hours before the accident, making the most impressive start of his young career.

Though he was hardly a star at the time of his death, he has become a hometown hero whose tragic story is well known, even among those who don’t follow the game. In the year since his death, Adenhart has been memorialized with a shrine outside Angel Stadium, a photo on the center field wall and a pitching award in his name.

A great majority of Orange County residents were touched by Adenhart’s death, said defense attorney Jacqueline Rubio.

“The problem,” she said, is that all the jurors “may be tainted…. We are all victims of this tragedy. We all lost a local hero.”

Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Susan Price acknowledged that Adenhart’s posthumous celebrity would be a factor in the case, but said jurors would easily be able to distinguish between what they have learned about the case through media reports and what they hear in court.

The judge readily agreed.

“As a person who has been in the criminal justice system for over 30 years,” Toohey said, “the court has great confidence in the jury system.”

paloma.esquivel@latimes.com