Suspect in Australian baseball player's death wants trial moved

DUNCAN, Okla. - A suspect in the shooting death of a college baseball player from Australia wants his trial moved out of the south Oklahoma county where he's charged with first-degree murder.

Attorneys for Chancey Allen Luna filed a motion Friday in Stephens County District Court in Duncan asking that the trial be moved. The Oklahoman reports that defense attorneys said Luna can't receive a fair trial in Stephens or surrounding counties because of widespread publicity.

Luna and Michael Dewayne Jones are both charged with first-degree murder in the August 2013 shooting death of Chris Lane of Melbourne, Australia. Lane, who was a member of the East Central University baseball team in Ada, was jogging when he was gunned down during a trip to visit his girlfriend's parents.

Both Luna and Jones have pleaded not guilty. They are to be tried separately, starting in April.

Attorneys for Luna also contend that he cannot get a fair trial because law enforcement officials made "untruthful comments and unfair characterizations of the facts" immediately after the shooting. They do not specify what those comments were.

A gag order in the case prohibits attorneys and other officials involved from commenting.

Defense attorneys have not disputed that Luna fired the fatal shot, but claim the evidence shows Luna thought he was firing blanks. They've asked that the first-degree murder charge be thrown out, arguing the evidence does not prove an essential element of the offense - that Luna deliberately intended to take another person's life.

If convicted of first-degree murder, Luna faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.