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Second murder defendant wants trial moved

Joy Watkins' lawyer also cites press coverage of the case

April 30, 2008|Fred Petke

Patrick Watkins wants his upcoming murder trial moved out of Clark County.

His wife and co-defendant Joy Watkins wouldn't mind either.

Joy Watkins' attorney filed documents Monday in Clark Circuit Court indicating they have no objections to moving the case elsewhere because of pre-trial publicity.

The Watkinses are charged with murder for the March 2007 death of Patrick's daughter, Michaela.

In the notice, her attorney, Tim Despotes, wrote that he believed "it will be highly unlikely to find potential jurors in Clark County who have not been exposed repeatedly to the fact that an adolescent girl child Michaela Watkins died and that her father and stepmother are being held criminally liable for the same."

The Watkinses' murder trial is scheduled to begin Monday in Winchester for the March 11, 2007 death Michaela Watkins. Clark Circuit Judge William T. Jennings is scheduled to hear both motions Thursday.

Last week, Patrick Watkins' attorney Lida Baharestan was allowed to supplement her motion for a change of venue in the wake of a memorial service outside the Clark County Courthouse for Michaela Watkins and another child who died. In her motion, Baharestan said there had been more than 40 stories on the case among local newspapers and television news broadcasts. Baharestan asked that the case be moved to Menifee County, where she believes the child died, or another county where an impartial jury could be selected.

Patrick and Joy Watkins were indicted in May 2007, two months after his daughter Michaela was found dead in their Winchester apartment. An autopsy showed 10-year-old Michaela Watkins died from blunt force trauma, though burns were listed as a contributing factor.

The Watkinses told police they made Michaela take a bath after she urinated on herself, then fell twice and hit her head while getting out of the tub. For the rest of the night, they said, she seemed fine but was fading in and out of consciousness the following day on a trip to Red River Gorge. After returning home, they said, she fell down the stairs.

Police said Michaela's injuries were not consistent with the Watkinses' story.

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