BY BETH VELLIQUETTE

bvelliquette@heraldsun.com; 419-6632

WINSTON-SALEM -- A federal judge will study the issue of whether Demario Atwater should have another change of venue hearing before making a final decision on whether to move the trial out of state.

Atwater, 22, is charged with crimes associated with the death of Eve Carson, UNC Chapel Hill's former student body president. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

Carson was shot and killed on March 5, 2008, after she was allegedly kidnapped from her home off West Rosemary Street.

Atwater's attorneys argued Wednesday in U.S. District Court that the publicity surrounding the case has been so extensive and at times prejudicial that the proceedings should be moved out of state in order to ensure a fair trial.

As it stands now, the trial is scheduled to start in May in Winston-Salem.

Kimberly Stevens, who represents Atwater, told Judge James A. Beaty Jr. that after Carson died there were many stories about Carson memorializing her life. The defense had no objection to those stories, calling it "one of the saddest, most devastating crimes in North Carolina history."

But after Atwater and his co-defendant Laurence Lovette Jr. were charged with her murder, there were many stories that included information, such as their criminal history and their probation records, that would not be proper for jurors to know, Stevens said.

One of the stories turned into a probation scandal, and other stories or headlines linked Atwater to the murder of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato, she said.

Lovette has been charged with Mahato's murder, but Atwater has not. Nevertheless, some people believe both men killed both people, Stevens said.

Stevens asked the judge to grant an evidentiary hearing on the change of venue motion in which the judge would review all the stories, especially the live videos that television stations produced during the trial.

The judge asked Stevens if she expected to walk into the stations and ask for the tapes and they would be handed over to her. She told the judge that in the past, television stations have been cooperative as long as they were not asked for tapes that had not been broadcast already.

The court can't make a decision without seeing the live news coverage, she said.

Beaty replied that the news coverage won't be part of the evidence, but Stevens argued that the coverage has affected "the minds and hearts of North Carolina citizens."

After the court looks at all the evidence, Stevens wants the judge to hear from the expert the defense hired to do a survey of how much people in the area knew about the case. She expected that the government would also want to put up its own expert to testify about the survey.

Stevens told the judge that even in Washington, D.C., one in three people had heard about the Eve Carson case.

Beaty told the attorneys he would take the matter of whether to have another hearing on the change of venue issue under advisement, meaning he will consider it before making a decision. He did not say when he would issue the ruling.

Beaty did make a decision on another defense motion. The defense argued a motion asking that the government produce a bill of particulars, which is a detailed list of the possible aggravating factors the government would attempt to prove during the sentencing phase if Atwater is convicted.

During the sentencing phase, the government will have to prove one or more aggravating factors for the defendant to be eligible for a capital sentence.

Aggravating factors include: Commission of a killing in the course of another serious offense, the defendant's having a prior criminal history involving serious violent offenses, the commission of a killing in the course of another serious crime, the commission of a killing after substantial planning and premeditation, killing multiple victims, or endangering the lives of other persons.

The judge told the defense attorneys that they already have a list of the aggravating factors and he denied the motion for the more detailed list that would have included the evidence the government planned to introduce for each factor.

Atwater, wearing the standard orange jail jumpsuit, sat quietly during the hearing.

No cameras or recording devices were allowed in the courtroom.