Facebook cited as reason to move murder trial

STANTON, N.D. (AP) — Lawyers representing two Mercer County men point to Facebook as a reason their clients' murder trial should be moved to a different county.

The Bismarck Tribune reports (http://bit.ly/HxBt9X) that prosecuting attorney Ladd Erickson requested a venue change at a Wednesday pretrial conference. Erickson says the large amount of Facebook activity surrounding the case could make it difficult to seat a jury in the case against 29-year-old Richard Whitman and 24-year-old Cody Borner.

The men are accused of going to a Beulah apartment Jan. 31 and fatally shooting Michael Padilla. Timothy Padilla was wounded but survived.

The newspaper reports that a trial date hasn't been set. Both men are being held on $1 million bond in the Mercer County Jail. Their lawyers couldn't immediately be reached by the Associated Press.

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