Motion filed to move Greenhouse trial out of Avoyelles Parish

A hearing on a motion seeking to move the murder trial of Norris Greenhouse Jr. out of Avoyelles Parish will be held at 1:30 p.m. Monday in 12th Judicial District Court.

Defense attorney George Higgins III filed the motion Wednesday.

As of noon, a copy of the motion was not available.

Greenhouse’s trial on charges of 2nd degree murder of 6-year-old Jeremy Mardis and the attempted 2nd degree murder of his father, Christopher Few, is scheduled to begin Oct. 2.

The defense is also currently awaiting a decision from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals on a motion to overrule District Judge William Bennett’s denial of defense motions preventing prosecutors from using the legal doctrines of “transferred intent” and “principal” in their case against Greenhouse.

“Transferred intent” means that if a person intended to kill a person but killed someone else instead, the “intent to kill” required by a murder statute transfers from the intended victim to the actual victim.

The doctrine of “principal,” in this case, would mean that if Greenhouse is proven to have fired his weapon at the Few vehicle, but none of his bullets struck a victim, prosecutors can still contend that he is as guilty of the murder and attempted murder as Derrick Stafford, who also fired at the Few vehicle.

Ballistics tests matched all but two bullets recovered from the victims to Stafford’s firearm. Two bullets were too badly damaged to be matched to either pistol.

Forensics matched 14 shell casings at the scene to Stafford’s weapon and four to Greenhouse’s.

Stafford was convicted of manslaughter and attempted manslaughter in March and sentenced to 40 years in prison.