The retrial of a Florida woman accused of paying an undercover cop $7,000 to kill her husband got underway on Thursday with jury selection. However, the defense team will now reportedly file a motion for a change of venue on Friday that could end up putting off jury selection until next week, or even later.
Dalia Dippolito was captured on cameras during the television show “Cops” paying an undercover officer, but she says the entire thing was just an act for the producers of the television show.
The incident occurred in 2009 and she was convicted at her first trial in 2011 and sentenced to 20-years in prison for solicitation to commit first-degree murder with a firearm. However, an appeals court overturned her conviction in 2014 and granted her a new trial.
Jury selection in the case was expected to take as long as three days and the trial itself is expected to last about five days. Yet, new reports on Friday morning indicate that the defense team’s motion for change of venue may end up delaying the actual start of the trial well into the future.
According to WPTV NBC 5, Dippolito’s lawyers will file its oral motion on Friday and the judge will hold a hearing on that motion on Monday.
“We are asking jurors to be brought in from other counties, similar to what was done in the Casey Anthony case,” a member of Dippolito’s defense team explained.
They believe the case has already received far too much media attention in Palm Beach County that any jurors selected from the county will already have preconceived notions about the case. Jury selection and media exposure in the last case played a major role in the appellate court’s decision to grant Dippolito a new trial.
Dippolito’s attorney @Brian_Claypool plans to file motion to change venue. Wants to cancel jury selection today. pic.twitter.com/wVCIwuvpK0
— Michelle Quesada (@M_Quesada) December 2, 2016
The judge has reportedly already decided to continue the ongoing jury selection process for Friday, believing the proper safeguards were already in place to pick a fair jury. Nonetheless, a formal hearing on the matter will be heard on Monday.
LawNewz.com will carry a livestream of all the courtroom action as soon as the trial begins with opening statements.
WATCH LIVE HERE (when jury selection and opening statements begin):
