Lawyers want jury dismissed, penalty trial moved elsewhere

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Lawyers for the man who pleaded guilty last month to killing a 10-year-old Kansas girl want the judge to dismiss the jury picked for the penalty trial and to move it out of western Missouri.

The jury was picked earlier this week, and the trial to determine whether Keith Nelson should die or spend the rest of his life in prison is set to get under way Monday in U.S. District Court.

Nelson pleaded guilty to kidnapping and killing Pamela Butler in October 1999. The girl, abducted from outside her home in Kansas City, Kan., was found dead a few days later in a wooded area near Grain Valley, Mo.

According to court filings made available Friday, defense lawyer Patrick Berrigan renewed his request for a change of venue, this time citing a cascade of media coverage of Nelson's suicide attempt just three days after his guilty plea on Oct. 25.

He also took issue with news stories that reported statements from Cherri West, Pamela's mother, about Nelson's courtroom demeanor. Berrigan wrote that this type of news coverage is prejudicial to Nelson.

He echoed that argument in a separate motion to dismiss the jury, noting that almost all potential jurors interviewed on Tuesday said they knew of the suicide attempt. Months ago, U.S. District Judge Fernando Gaitan instructed those potential jurors to avoid news coverage of the Nelson case, Berrigan wrote.

"This complete lack of compliance with the court's pretrial instruction alone justifies quashing the present ... panel," Berrigan wrote.

Meanwhile, Gaitan has ordered prosecutors to give him a preview of part of their case against Nelson.

Prosecutors have said they plan to introduce evidence showing how Pamela's death has affected her family. While such evidence is admissible, Nelson's lawyers have said they would object if the trial became a "memorial service."