NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – The judge didn’t decide on a change of venue after attorneys spent the day arguing at a Monday hearing about why they felt their client’s sentencing trial needed to be moved away from this area.
McDowell pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers in 2021.
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him.
The hearing was about two hours long. Attorneys presented their case, showing local and national media coverage as reasons for the venue change request.
They also emphasized Nassau County residents’ exposure or knowledge of McDowell’s story. Results of the survey were provided to the courtroom.
The judge pushed back against McDowell’s attorney’s claims about the public’s opinion on the death penalty, saying it is relevant to know how the public feels, not just about how they feel about this case.
The judge acknowledged this was “not an easy issue,” and did not make a decision on Monday but expects to decide by Tuesday.
In a 13-page motion, McDowell’s attorneys largely center their argument around the intense negative media coverage against their client, saying it was “overwhelming, constant, and pervasive.” But they also talk about comments made by Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper -- both during the manhunt for McDowell, and after.
“I wish he would have given us an opportunity to shoot him. But he didn’t. He crawled out like a coward,” Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said in September 2021, back when McDowell was captured.
That comment made by the sheriff is one of the statements now flagged in the motion for a change of venue.
The motion goes on to say during the manhunt for McDowell, Sheriff Leeper “advised local residents to shoot and kill McDowell if they saw him.”
It also states that the comment was rebroadcast several times.
These statements are among several reasons why McDowell’s defense attorneys will argue their client cannot get a fair and impartial jury in neither Nassau County or those surrounding, writing in the motion that the case’s publicity was so intense “that juries could not possibly put these matters out of their minds and try the case solely upon evidence presented in court.”
While his attorneys will argue for a new trial location in court, there has yet to be a ruling on whether a death sentence for McDowell will require a unanimous jury recommendation or the much lesser 8 to 4 standard.
Dozens of people have been given notice by McDowell’s attorneys that they may be called to speak on his behalf once the sentencing trial starts. The very earliest the trial could start is in April, but that could change.
If the judge makes a decision by Tuesday, the trial could begin as early as Friday, April 5.