SALINA, Kan. (AP) A Kansas man will have his trial on a charge of escaping from jail held outside Saline County, in part because of public comments posted to online news articles about the defendant.
The Salina Journal reports District Judge Rene Young agreed Thursday to a change of venue for Antonio Brown.
The 29-year-old Salina man was convicted last month of murder in the 2011 abuse death of 14-month- old Clayden Urbanek, the son of his former girlfriend. That trial was also held outside Saline County.
Brown initially pleaded no contest in the death, but disappeared from the Saline County jail the day before his sentencing. He surrendered two days later in Wichita and withdrew the plea.
Brown’s attorney cited extensive pretrial publicity in seeking to move both of his trials.
