CARLISLE, Ohio -- Attorneys defending Brooke Richardson, an 18-year-old who pleaded not guilty in the death of her newborn child, filed a motion Friday to have her trial moved outside of Warren County.
Judge Donald Oda II didn't just deny it -- he ordered it stricken from the record and referred to an attached memorandum as a "self-serving recitation of facts" that posed a "serious and imminent threat" to the jury pool's impartiality.
RELATED: Carlisle burned baby case: What both sides are saying
Richardson, a former cheerleader at Carlisle High School, was charged in August 2017 with aggravated murder and other felonies connected to the death of her baby, which prosecutors said she killed, burned and buried in her back yard in early May.
The Dayton Daily News reported Oda told the defense that the case would not be tried in the press or the pleadings.
Both sets of attorneys -- Charles M. and Charles H. Rittger, who comprise the defense, and Warren County Prosecutor David P. Fornshell -- have been under a gag order regarding the case since August 2017.
RELATED: Fire official says Carlisle infant death is reminder that there are options for parents in crisis
"It is particularly troubling that such an inflammatory and prejudicial memorandum would accompany a motion for a change of venue," Oda said.
Richardson's trial is scheduled to begin April 16 -- a little less than a year after prosecutors said the crime took place.
