Janet Hinds, the former Soddy Daisy postmaster who is charged in the traffic death of Chattanooga Police Officer Nicholas Galinger, is asking for a change of venue.
Attornery Ben McGowan said in a 66-page motion with some 1,500 pages of attachments that local citizens had formed opinions about the case and there had been excessive publicity.
He is also asking that the jury be sequestered.
Attorney McGowan said, "The massive publicity of this case has created a narrative of preordained guilt deeply ingrained in the public conscious."
Ms. Hinds, who is free on bond under home confinement, is charged with voluntary manslaughter and other counts.
Office Galinger, a rookie policeman, was checking an overflowing manhole cover on Hamill Road when he was struck and killed by a vehicle. The driver left the scene.
Police later located the Hinds vehicle and said she was responsible for the incident and had fled the scene.
Attorney McGowan said the publicity was so extensive there was a live stream of a bond hearing "and a simple arraignment."
He said the news stories have been posted on social media and received thousands of comments with numerous derogatory statements about his client.
The attorney listed dozens of news stories about the case as well as unfavorable comments made toward Ms. Hinds, including from the Galinger family.
Attorney McGowan said he objects to the procedure sometimes used in high-profile cases of picking a jury in a distant county and then bringing the jurors to Chattanooga to hear the case. He said, "The pervasive and distorted media coverage will continue and likely infect the trial proceedings themselves."
He said there needs to be a decision soon on moving the trial, saying that with each court proceeding "the additional publicity of display of interest by members of the community, creates a growing need for a change of venue."
The motion says, "The prejudicial effects of the media coverage can be found at both the conscious and sub-conscience levels, and so jurors that even believe they can be fair may have a bias that could affect their decision at trial."
It is asked that the trial be moved "to the nearest county where unfair prejudice does not exist."