Attorneys for a police officer facing murder charges say a judge’s comments that the officer’s story was not “credible” have tainted the jury pool in the case scheduled for trial in two weeks.

Attorneys for Aaron Smith on Friday filed a motion asking to remove Montgomery Circuit Judge Greg Griffin and transfer the trial to another county.At the conclusion of an immunity hearing last week, Griffin said he did not find Smith’s testimony describing the shooting to be “credible.”

Attorneys said that commentary was inappropriate and “will certainly taint the community’s perception of Officer Smith and taint the jury pool.”

Smith is scheduled to go to trial in August for the 2016 shooting of 58-year-old Greg Gunn.
(Associated Press, copyright 2018)

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