A judge in Alaska rejected a motion to move the trial of an ex-cop accused of murdering an Alaska Native woman.

The attorney for Matthew C. Owens, who is white, said pre-trial publicity has tainted the case. But the district attorney said the request to move the trial was based on race. The jury pool in the Second Judicial District would be largely Native.

Sonya Ivanoff, 19, was found dead on August 13. She was shot in the back of the head. She spent most of her life in a Native village before moving to Nome two years ago.

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Judge refuses to move trial (The Anchorage Daily News 2/11)

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