{Charleston, West Virginia}...Thirty-six year old Shawn Lester will stand trial in Kanawha County, despite his attorney's plea for a change of venue. Tuesday, Circuit Court Judge Louis Bloom denied a change of venue request for Lester, the man charged in the 2003 Charleston sniper killings. Gary Carrier, 44, was fatally shot August 10, 2003 while speaking on a pay phone on Charleston's West Side. Four days laterJeanie Patton, 31 was gunned down while pumping gas at a Campbell's Creek convenience store. Less than an hour after that killing, Okey Meadows, 26, was shot and killed making a purchase at the night window of a Cedar Grove convenience store. Lester was indicted last May. At a February 9th hearing, Lester's lawyers called a psychologist to testify about the effect news coverage would have on jury selection. Judge Bloom ruled the experts opinions were based on generalized research, not on the Lester case and that fear surrounding the case has died down in the years since the shootings. Bloom ruled Lester's attorneys failed to produce any evidence that prejudice currently exists against Lester, let alone that prejudice currently exists against him which is so great he cannot receive a fair trial in Kanawha County.
