Attorneys for man who killed Nassau County deputy argue why sentencing trial should be moved elsewhere

NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – Defense attorneys for Patrick McDowell are expected to argue at a hearing Monday why they feel their client’s sentencing trial needs to be moved away from this area.

McDowell pleaded guilty to shooting and killing Nassau County Deputy Joshua Moyers in 2021.

Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against him.

In a 13-page motion, McDowell’s attorneys largely center their argument around the intense negative media coverage against their client, saying it was “overwhelming, constant, and pervasive.” But they also talk about comments made by Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper -- both during the manhunt for McDowell, and after.

“I wish he would have given us an opportunity to shoot him. But he didn’t. He crawled out like a coward,” Nassau County Sheriff Bill Leeper said in September 2021, back when McDowell was captured.

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That comment made by the sheriff is one of the statements now flagged in the motion for a change of venue.

The motion goes on to say during the manhunt for McDowell, Sheriff Leeper “advised local residents to shoot and kill McDowell if they saw him.”

It also states that the comment was rebroadcast several times.

These statements are among several reasons why McDowell’s defense attorneys will argue their client cannot get a fair and impartial jury in neither Nassau County or those surrounding, writing in the motion that the case’s publicity was so intense “that juries could not possibly put these matters out of their minds and try the case solely upon evidence presented in court.”

While his attorneys will argue for a new trial location in court, there has yet to be a ruling on whether a death sentence for McDowell will require a unanimous jury recommendation or the much lesser 8 to 4 standard.

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Dozens of people have been given notice by McDowell’s attorneys that they may be called to speak on his behalf once the sentencing trial starts. The very earliest the trial could start is in April, but that could change.

The hearing on McDowell’s change of venue motion is scheduled for 2 p.m. Monday.