The murder trial of Christopher Taylor, the Austin police officer who fatally shot Mike Ramos in 2020, has been reset for October. Travis County District Judge Dayna Blazey announced at a Wednesday hearing that the new date for the trial is Oct. 16.
The court’s first attempt at a trial ended in mistrial after four failed days of jury selection, stemming in part from the proceedings being mistakenly closed to the public – a violation of Taylor’s Sixth Amendment right to a public trial.
In a motion for mistrial filed May 26, Taylor’s defense team also expressed concern about a trio of envelopes left by an unknown person on the vehicles of prospective jurors during the selection process. According to the defense motion, the two envelopes that were recovered referenced Taylor and Ramos in a way that could be deemed threatening.
In its motion, the defense argued that “the suspect or suspects appear to remain at large and are therefore capable of targeting other individuals summoned to appear as potential jurors in this case as well as the individuals who will eventually be selected as jurors in this case.”
The defense also requested additional security measures be put in place by the Travis County Sheriff’s Office. Blazey granted that request in an order filed May 31.
“The Travis County Sheriff’s Office is hereby ordered to propose to the Court as soon as practicable all additional security procedures reasonably available for enactment to protect venirepersons and jurors in this case from tampering and intimidation,” the order reads.
At Wednesday’s hearing, the defense indicated it will request the trial be moved to a venue outside of Travis County. The defense is expected to file the request by June 16, and Blazey indicated the state will have until July 14 to respond. After the two sides have made their arguments, Blazey will hold a hearing to make a decision.
That won’t be the only decision facing the judge. At Wednesday’s hearing, the prosecution announced it would be seeking a limited gag order in the case. The state said the motion would be filed late Wednesday, citing public comment from the defense counsel that it alleged “denigrate(s) the office of the district attorney.” The motion was not available as of press time.
Photo made available through a Creative Commons license.
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This article First appeared in austinmonitor