STILLWATER - Court recessed in Payne County, after the attorney for the woman on trial in the Oklahoma State University Homecoming tragedy moved for a change of venue and to quash Adacia Chambers' statements to police.
Defense attorney Tony Coleman told the court during a motion hearing on Tuesday that he did not believe Chambers could have a fair and impartial trial in Payne County because of all of the media attention.
Coleman called Oklahoma State Senator Ed Long to the stand. Long testified to learning about Adacia Chambers through the media. He said he heard through his clubs and others in the community that Chambers is guilty. Long told the court he thought it would be "extremely difficult" or "impossible" for Chambers to get a fair trial "until we hear evidence."
Judge Stephen Kistler overruled a defense motion to exclude autopsy photos, as well as a motion to suppress statements Chambers made to police when she was arrested at the crash scene. Chambers' attorneys argued she was suffering from a psychotic episode in the aftermath of the crash, and that any statements she made were involuntary and therefore inadmissible.
Kistler also overruled a defense motion that would have limited displays of emotion in the courtroom.
Court recessed for lunch and was set to reconvene after a funeral.
Chambers was booked jail on $1 million bond after her arrest on October 24, 2015. She's accused of accelerating her car into a crowd of parade goers. She has pleaded not guilty to four counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of OSU professor 2-year-old Nash Lucas; Marvin Stone and his wife Bonnie Stone, who also worked for the university; grad student Nikita Nakal, 23; as well as 42 counts of assault and battery by means of force likely to produce death.
Chambers' trial is set for January 10, barring any changes at the Tuesday hearing. The trial is expected to last about a month.
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