The attorney for the former Montgomery County High School counselor accused of having sex with a student is seeking a change of venue for the criminal trial.

 

Carrie O'Connor is scheduled to be tried the week of November 17th in Montgomery County Superior Court.  She was indicted last year for an alleged sexual assault with a 16-year-old boy.

 

Her attorney, Paul Cook of Vidalia, has filed a motion asking Judge Frederick Mullis to move the trial out of Montgomery County due to pre-trial publicity. The judge has yet to set a hearing date for the motion, according to court officials.

 

According to Cook's motion, "Defendant and her counsel do not believe she can obtain a fair trial in Montgomery County."  He cites coverage in local and state newspapers, on 98Q and Sweet Onion Country radio stations, television newscasts in Macon and Savannah, and numerous web sites including www.Bad Bad Teacher.com which he claims has included 428 comments from various citizens of Montgomery County as of October 24, 2008.

 

The motion states, "The amount of publicity and media coverage has placed before the prospective jurors in this case information which is incompetent as evidence in this case, and has severely prejudiced prospective jurors against Defendant."