Attorneys for accused supermarket shooter want trial moved

Thursday, Jan. 6, 2000 | 2:43 a.m.

Attorneys for the man charged with killing four people in a local supermarket say their client cannot get a fair trial in Clark County because news coverage has tainted potential jurors.

Deputy Public Defender Douglas Hedger filed a motion Wednesday for a change of venue in the case.

Hedger also filed court documents asking that the charges against Zane Floyd be split into two trials - one in the quadruple murder charges that could result in the death penalty if he is convicted, and one over the alleged sexual assault of an outcall entertainer a short time before the shootings.

Floyd was back in District Judge Jeff Sobel's courtroom Thursday for the first time in months, but it was only for a status check on the progress of the case. The judge said he will not hear arguments on the motions but will issue a decision on Feb. 7.

The trial is still set for March 6.

The shooting rampage began early June 3 when a man dressed in camouflage fatigues walked into an Albertson's grocery store and began shooting. Four people were killed and one person was wounded and has since recovered.

Floyd, a 23-year-old ex-Marine and part-time nightclub bouncer, was arrested after he left the store with the shotgun pointed at himself.

The incident received national media coverage.

"The fact that these shootings took place in an average neighborhood at a public place - a supermarket - has caused the media to pay much closer attention and to give much more coverage than with other shootings," the court motion said.

"Clearly this case has been publicized so extensively and in a manner so prejudicial to the interests of the defendant that it has inevitably jeopardized his rights to a ... trial before a fair and impartial jury."