I remember before BSL's arrest, many locals were posting that the media was not doing a good job of covering the case. I never got the feeling that this case was getting wall-to-wall massive coverage by the Lafayette media. That might have changed since the arrest, but from what I've heard of the local media's reputation there, once the information stops coming in, there will probably be a drought of press until we get closer to the trial.
The defense attorneys just have to prove that the media in the Lafayette area was too intense and too incriminating. It doesn't matter what publicity is like on a state or national level. It doesn't matter what people from across the country on the Internet are saying.
Here's an interesting tidbit:
"Snipped from Serial Killer DTL's denied appeal"
* (defendant is not entitled to a jury entirely ignorant of the case and cannot prevail on
a motion for change of venue merely by showing a general level of public awareness
about the crime).
http://www.lasc.org/opinions/2008/05KA2098.opn.pdf
01/16/08
SUPREME COURT OF LOUISIANA
NO. 2005-KA-2098
DECREE
For the reasons assigned herein, the defendant's conviction and death sentence are affirmed.
LSA-C. Cr. P. art. 622 provides, in pertinent part:
A change of venue shall be granted when the applicant
proves that by reason of prejudice existing in the public
mind or because of undue influence, or that for any other
reason, a fair and impartial trial cannot be obtained in the
parish where the prosecution is pending.
* A defendant must prove more than mere public general knowledge or
familiarity with the facts of the case, to be entitled to have his trial moved to another
parish. State v. Frank, 99-0553, p. 16 (La. 1/17/01), 803 So.2d 1, 16 (there is no
"bright line test for determining the degree of prejudice existing in the collective
mind of the community...the defendant must show the extent of prejudice in the minds