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RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Austin Thompson is accused of killing five people in the Hedingham neighborhood and his trial is scheduled to begin in less than a month.
Monday was the deadline for the defense and prosecution to file motions ahead of the trial.
The defense submitted a motion asking for the court to block certain cell phone and computer data.
Thompson’s lawyers said “much of the evidence the state seeks to use is either extremely old, or undated,” and “there is a serious danger of looking at anyone’s phone search history with a retrospective view and finding evidence to support a theory that is convenient.”
Longtime judge and legal expert Carl Fox says the prosecution does face some obstacles in this case, including establishing a motive.
“Jurors do like to know why something happened,” he said. “It isn’t necessary, but it’s one of those things that jurors are curious about in a case like this.”
Fox says jury selection will be another hurdle for the prosecution, considering how many people know about this case.
The Hedingham shooting drew national attention.
“I would suspect that they would summon 100 or so jurors a day,” said Fox. 8 “It’s gotten a lot of publicity and that’s what makes it harder to try than other cases that don’t see this kind of publicity.”
Thompson’s trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 2.
SEE ALSO | Defense plans to blame medication, ‘diminished capacity’ in Hedingham mass shooting case
His defense attorney did not want to comment on the filings.
Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman had said she would not comment on the motion ahead of trial.
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Elaina Athans
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