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Attorney for Emond Johnson requests trial be moved out of Bexar County, citing extensive media coverage and publicity

Johnson is accused of starting the May 2017 shopping center fire that killed a San Antonio firefighter and injured two others.

SAN ANTONIO — Alleging that "extensive publicity" has made a fair trial impossible, the attorney for Emond Johnson – the man accused of setting a blaze in 2017 that killed San Antonio Firefighter Scott Deem – submitted a motion this week to move the trial "to a county in which it presents the possibility" for him to "receive a fair and impartial jury."

Johnson was indicted by a Bexar County Jury in December of 2017 on arson charges related to the May, 2017 fire at Ingram Square shopping center that killed Deem and injured two other firefighters. Johnson was the owner of the Spartan Box gym, where the fire was started. 

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"The amount of publicity, the overwhelming presence on social media and the unending media coverage require this change of venue," the motion states, pointing to community support for SAFD following the incident more than two years ago. 

The motion cites federal and Texas law in stating that Johnson is entitled to "a jury composed of unbiased jurors and trial proceedings free from prejudice," and alleges that possibility doesn't exist in Bexar County. 

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