Former Philly Police Officer Mark Dial’s lawyers want his murder trial in the death of Eddie Irizarry to be held outside the city

Attorneys for former Philadelphia Police Officer Mark Dial, who is facing murder charges in the fatal shooting of Eddie Irizarry during a traffic stop last year, have asked a judge to allow his trial to be held in another county, saying an “avalanche” of media coverage and protests over the case have made it impossible for Dial to receive a fair trial in the city.

That request was the focus of a hearing in Dial’s case Thursday. Lawyer Brian McMonagle said he couldn’t recall another time in his career when a client faced a similar level of public condemnation.

Beyond receiving widespread local and national media coverage, McMonagle said, Dial’s case has been commented on by elected officials — including some City Council members, who expressed outrage after the case was initially thrown out by a judge. That dismissal — which was later reversed by another judge — also led to protests and even some looting and property destruction, which McMonagle said was further evidence that the case needed to be tried elsewhere.

“This young man can’t receive a fair trial” in Philadelphia, McMonagle said.

Prosecutors, however, saw things differently. Assistant District Attorney Karima Yelverton contended that there was “not a saturation” of coverage surrounding Dial’s case, and that the coverage the defense presented was not inflammatory. She also said Dial’s attorneys “haven’t shown there was any actual prejudice” that would irrevocably taint his potential jury pool.

Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara A. McDermott said she was not yet prepared to rule on the matter, first made in court filings in March. Instead, she said, she would seek more information — including by staging mock jury selections to see how widely the case is known among the public. Those sessions would be conducted behind closed doors, she said.

The development marks the latest chapter in the shooting of Irizarry, which happened last August.

Dial, then 27, a five-year veteran of the force, shot and killed Irizarry, 27, as he sat in his car in Kensington. Police said Irizarry had been driving erratically, including by swerving into a bike lane and driving the wrong way down a one-way street. And they initially said Irizarry had lunged at Dial with a knife, leading the officer to shoot him.

» READ MORE: Friends and loved ones gather for the funeral of Eddie Irizarry, shot and killed by a Philadelphia Police officer

But video — including footage captured on Dial’s bodycam — showed that wasn’t true: Irizarry was in his car, with the windows rolled up and a knife in his hand, when Dial opened fire within seconds of getting out of his police cruiser.

Ten days after the shooting, then-Police Commissioner Danielle Outlaw moved to fire Dial for what she said was a refusal to cooperate with an internal investigation.

About two weeks after that, District Attorney Larry Krasner’s office charged Dial with crimes including first- and third-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter, and aggravated assault. Prosecutors have alleged that Dial’s partner yelled “knife” before Dial opened fire, and that because he emerged from his police car with his gun drawn, and then fired within five seconds, he should be charged with murder.

But last September, Municipal Court Judge Wendy L. Pew dismissed all charges against Dial, ruling that prosecutors had not presented enough evidence to show that the shooting was a crime. Dial’s attorneys had argued during the hearing that the officer thought his partner yelled “gun,” and that Dial shot Irizarry in self-defense.

Pew’s decision — which led to public outrage — was reversed a month later by Common Pleas Court Judge Lillian Ransom, who reinstated all charges against Dial, including first-degree murder.

Dial has been jailed ever since. He was in court Thursday but did not speak to McDermott, and it is not clear when — or where — his trial might start. The case is not due back before McDermott until September, according to court records.

Staging cases in other counties — or, as an alternative, picking jurors from other jurisdictions — is unusual, but not unprecedented. The first sexual assault trial of Bill Cosby in 2017, for example, was staged in Montgomery County but involved jurors from Pittsburgh. And a Philadelphia judge ruled last year that former city SWAT Officer Richard Nicoletti — currently awaiting retrial in an assault case for spraying protesters on I-676 in 2020 — should be tried in a courtroom outside the city. Prosecutors have appealed that decision.