A motion filed by the Venango County public defender’s office to bring in jurors from another county for the trial of Oil City murder suspect David Bosley has been denied.
The ruling from senior judge William Cunningham of Erie County was filled Tuesday.
Cunningham presided over a hearing Monday in Venango County court that was conducted in response to a motion filed last month by public defender Eric Padin for a change of venue/venire for a potential trial in Bosley’s case.
Nellis was reported missing the evening of March 26 after she failed to return home from her afternoon walk on the Samuel Justus bike trail near her home on Oil City’s West End.
Her body was found the next morning near the trail.
Padin requested during Monday’s hearing that jurors for a trial come from another county due to the high volume of media coverage of Nellis’ death, Bosley’s arrest and past criminal record, and court action that has followed.
Cunningham said in his ruling Tuesday that “Based on the evidence presented… the Defendant’s Motion for Change of Venue or Venire…is denied without prejudice.”
The ruling allows for the resubmission of “such a request based on new evidence or the failure to seat a jury after individual voir dire.”
Voir dire is the process of seating a jury, commonly called jury selection.
