OAKLAND - An Allegany County circuit court judge granted a change of venue for the second-degree murder trial of a Garrett County man Tuesday, citing "media coverage" as the reason "the removal of the case is necessary."

In the case of State of Maryland v. Norris Wayne Rush, the Accident resident is also charged with using a handgun to commit a felony and reckless endangerment. The charges stem from the Dec. 3, 2006, shooting at Rush's home that left 29-year-old David Lancaster, a former Garrett County resident, dead.

Allegany County Circuit Judge Gary G. Leasure ruled in favor of the venue change, saying the grounds are "true and reasonable" after Stephan Moylan, public defender for Rush, requested the trial be moved out of Garrett County.

Leasure recently entered the case after Garrett County Circuit Judge Fred Sherbin recused himself Jan. 14. "Judge (Frederick C.) Wright appointed me upon Judge Sherbin's recusal," Leasure told the court.

"I haven't had a case close to this much pretrial publicity" in five years, Moylan said when referring to the 18 news articles, letters to the editor and radio segments about the case, as published or broadcast by the Cumberland Times-News, The Republican and WROG.

State's Attorney Lisa Thayer Welch agreed with the defense motion, saying that a Cumberland Times-News article about the case was also carried in The Weekender, which Welch said is delivered to every mailbox in Garrett County. That adds "to the pervasiveness of the media coverage in this matter," she added.

Welch said "the limited size of the jury pool and the nature of the case" would interfere with Rush's right to a fair trail.

After learning of Leasure's ruling, the attorney who is representing Lancaster's family in a civil suit said he agrees with the "ironic" decision.

"The irony of it is, but for the newspaper stories, no charges would probably have ever been filed," Tom Dabney said.

After Lancaster's death, Bertha Hale-Cooper hired Dabney to represent her, and has notified the court she intends to sue both Welch and Sheriff Gary Berkebile for violation of civil rights and wrongful conduct in her son's death. The sheriff's office has led the murder investigation.

Following his ruling, Leasure said Wright, administrative judge for the Fourth Circuit, which is comprised of Washington, Allegany and Garrett counties, will assign the case to another jurisdiction. Leasure said the judge eventually assigned should hear nine pending motions Moylan recently filed.

In a flurry of motions on behalf of his client, Moylan is also asking the court for relief in several matters pertaining to what has become a high-profile case, due to the defendant's relationship as a brother-in-law to Garrett County Sheriff Gary Berkebile.

From Dec. 14, 2006, through Jan. 29, Moylan filed nine other motions in addition to the one for a change of venue. They include motions for a subpoena to be issued for tangible evidence, for criminal records, for witness statements in advance of the trial, for sheriff's office police reports and the sheriff's departmental procedures manual, and for Maryland State Police reports. Moylan also requested the court to prohibit tangible evidence from being destroyed, as well as those including police officer's notes, reports and other writings.

A motion in limine was also filed by Rush's attorney. It would prevent everyone who attends court proceedings in this matter from wearing clothes that contain pictures of Lancaster.

Thayer Welch replied to almost all the motions, asking the court to deny them on various grounds. The only motion she agreed with was the motion to have Rush's trial moved away from Garrett County.

Contact Daleen Berry at dberry@times-news.com.