The defendant hereby requests leave to exceed the pagelimit for this memorandum of law contained in Local Rule 7.3, asthe defendant cannot adequately set forth the necessary mattersfor determination of this motion within the page limitations.IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURTFOR THE MIDDLE DISTRICT OF NORTH CAROLINAUNITED STATES OF AMERICA,))Plaintiff,)))v.)Case No. 1:08CR384-1))DEMARIO JAMES ATWATER,))Defendant.))________________________________)

MOTION TO TRANSFER VENUE AND ACCOMPANYING MEMORANDUM OF LAW

COMES NOW the Defendant, by and through undersigned counsel,and moves, pursuant to the Fifth, Sixth and Eighth Amendments tothe United States Constitution and Fed. R. Crim. P. 21(a), totransfer venue in this case to a location outside the State ofNorth Carolina, for the reasons set forth below.INTRODUCTIONIn the early morning hours of March 5, 2008, the body of ayoung white female was found on a street near the campus of UNCChapel Hill. When it was quickly discovered that the victim wasEve Carson, the young, accomplished, beloved Student BodyPresident at North Carolina’s flagship university, the media

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latched onto the story and has not let go. The publicitysurrounding this case has been staggering. The “facts” of thecase itself, and the prior criminal background of the accused,Mr. Atwater, have been the subject of thousands of newspaperarticles, television news stories, radio broadcasts and internetreports. The epicenter of this media explosion has been theMiddle District of North Carolina, with shock waves reverberatingfrom one end of North Carolina to the other.The result of the dissemination of the above informationthroughout North Carolina has been to taint the jury poolthroughout this State. A statewide survey conducted by Dr.Richard Seltzer in June 2009(the “Venue Survey”, Summarized inDr. Seltzer’s Affidavit, Exhibit A, with underlying raw data andDr. Seltzer’s resume attached at Exhibits A1 - A8) revealed that80% of North Carolina respondents have knowledge of the case and53% already believe, without a trial first having been conducted,that Mr. Atwater is guilty of murdering Eve Carson. (Exhibit A,pp. 7, 11). If found guilty, 52% of the citizens polledthroughout North Carolina already believe that Mr. Atwater shouldbe sentenced to death. (Exhibit A, p. 12). A fair trial in theMiddle District, or in any other North Carolina District, is notpossible. Accordingly, the defendant moves for a change ofvenue.

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The Indictment in this case involves one of the most highlypublicized crimes ever in North Carolina. The impact of theseevents upon the surrounding community and the attendant presscoverage is as extensive as any other case in recent memory.The fact that Mr. Atwater was on probation at the time of thekilling, and that he had appeared in court two days before thekilling, but was sent home due to a “clerical error,” generatedtremendous media discussion of the failures of the North Carolinaprobation program and of Mr. Atwater’s “extensive” criminalrecord. The nature of the coverage is highly prejudicial to Mr.Atwater, painting him as a violent and remorseless chronicoffender who slipped through the cracks of our justice system.The “facts” reported by the media in this case are commonknowledge among North Carolina citizens. The media hasauthoritatively reported, often using Mr. Atwater’s own supposed“admissions” as drawn from anonymous confidential informant(s),that Mr. Atwater and 17 year old Lawrence Alvin Lovette took Ms.Carson from her home, forced her into her vehicle, drove to anATM machine, forced her to disclose her PIN number, withdrewmoney from her account, drove her throughout Chapel Hill andDurham, returned with her to Chapel Hill, and then shot her inthe head as she raised her hand to shield herself. The aboveevents are reported as established facts by the media, andaccepted as true by the citizens of North Carolina. As a result,

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